Tears of the Ages
by Tan n' Tel
Summary: The Colton cousins have been best friends since birth but at Hogwarts they were sorted into opposing houses. Once they discover their houses have set the path for their later lives, it's just a manner of time until they turn on each other. SBOC EROC
1. Past in the Present

**Disclaimer - **J.K. Rowling owns it all, we're just window shopping. The characters Silvia and Aurelia Colton were created by us, along with several students in Hogwarts. But we'll still give J.K. credit. It's her world, after all.

**A/N: **This story follows a unique (and I have been told, somewhat confusing) pattern. I promise you, it is not our intention to confuse you! It just sort of...turned out that way. So here's the explanation: this chapter (one) is in the present, **1980**. The next two chapters are placed in the first year the girls' went to Hogwarts. Then it will go back to the present. Usually that pattern will be for every other chapter, but unfortunately two of the school year chapters were too long, so we had to break them up. This occurs in chapters two and three; eleven and twelve.  
If you totally didn't get that, we will be placing "Past" and "Present" in the upper left corners of each chapter. Sorry for the confusion.

* * *

_Present_

**CHAPTER I **

_Past in the Present_

The sign outside the building read _The Leaky Cauldron_ and the name reflected the inn quite well. It was dark outside; clouds covered the sky and only the bright full moon shown through them. These were the nights Aurelia Colton desperately missed.

She was three years out of school and still she could recall those memories as clear as crystal. Waiting up each night, hoping she'd see her friends in the morning, the heartache from knowing their pain, but not able to fully understand it and staring out the common room window, anxiously awaiting their return. Lily would often join her and they would sit by the fire and look into the flames in silence.

Aurelia shook her head and the memories were washed away by the rain that started pouring from the sky. She grabbed the collar of her coat and pulled it over her head before walking towards the back door of the building. Light flooded the ground as she opened the door and stepped inside. She gazed around the room and allowed her eyes to adjust to the lighting. When she could properly see once more, she looked to the back of the inn and spotted her cousin.

Many words had been used to describe Silvia Colton and dull was not one of them. Most in the bar wore older, darker robes, yet Silvia sat there clad in light blue, complimenting the navy sheen in her ebony hair. Hearing the bell, she glanced at the door, caught her cousin's eye and raised her Butterbeer in a toast. Aurelia's face was emotionless as she walked to the table but soon broke into a smile before Silva leapt from her seat and into a bone-cracking embrace.

The bartender walked over to his latest customer with a piece of parchment and a stubby quill.

"Will it be the usual then, Colton?"

"As always," said Aurelia. "Thanks, Tom."

As he left to collect the pint, a smirk played across Silvia's face. She said, "Lia, I thought I taught you not to drink on an empty stomach."

"You're one to talk, Via." Aurelia motioned to the Butterbeer in her cousin's hand and Silvia let out a chuckle.

"You were gone too long, Lia," said Silvia. "I started to bloody well miss you."

"It makes you wonder," Aurelia teased.

The two women sat down at the table Silvia had saved and starred at one another for what seemed to be hours. They had not seen each other for an entire year and all they could do was look across the table at each other.

Aurelia smirked.

"Boy, aren't you Miss Talkative tonight. Apparently, I've missed very little since I've been gone."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Just nothing monumental," Silvia retorted. _Not like the first time_, she thought. Her hand almost subconsciously went to her left forearm.

"Monumental to you or me?" Aurelia asked.

"Either or.'Sides, you aren't telling me about Italy. I need some incentive." Silvia's eyes were alight with mischief.

Tom had swiftly passed by, setting down a Butterbeer in front of Aurelia and moving on to another table. She slid her hand into the holder and brought it up to her lips, enjoying the warm, tingly taste it left in her mouth. Then she laughed suddenly and asked, "And you would like to hear about the boys or the beer first?"

She knew Silvia too well to begin a discussion with anything else. Her interests included boys, spells, drinking and boys. You didn't even have to know her as Aurelia did. Her body language suggested she was out to have a good time and that she would, even if the night was spent with someone she hated.

"Aren't they the same?" Silvia questioned with a knowing smiled. "Maybe you met an Antonio or someone else came to visit?" She leaned up on the table playfully, demonstrating what she thought might have happened. Aurelia was, without a doubt, the more subtle of the two about _certain_ things. She always had been. But she still knew what and how to get what she wanted. She was always up to the task of tying down her cousin's vibrant spirit.

Aurelia began her story, picking up from their last little reunion. Her trip to Italy took up a good portion of the hour. She explained her experiences with as little emotion as was possible, until Silvia pressured her into acting out certain scenes or using hand gestures. Via would smirk at the irrelevant events her cousin added as a side note, such being a drunk hitting on her (which happened numerous times) or Aurelia herself getting drunk. By the time she had finished, they were both howling with laughter, pounding the creaky table with their fists.

When they had regained their somber attitudes to a degree, Silvia started talking about what Aurelia had missed out on since she'd been away. There really wasn't much to say, mostly because she was lying nearly the entire time, but her alibis were well-rehearsed and believable. She used work, drunkenness and dating as her main excuses for not having much to do, but as time went on, she developed new and more interesting instances. For Aurelia, it was all quite fun listening to her cousin babble on aimlessly.

"You're enjoying watching me prattle on like a git, aren't you?" Silvia questioned, seeing the smile on Aurelia's face.

Then her smile turned into a smirk. "My dear cousin, how could you even think to say such vile things about me? I would never—" She stopped when she felt a peanut hit her forehead.

"Oh. Shut. It." Silvia threw a peanut for each word she spoke. It was amazing how quickly they slipped back into their comfortable selves around one another. Aurelia had only just gotten back that day and already they had exchanged stories, or fabrications in Silvia's case, and were back to how they had always been: teasing and playful, despite the meaning behind the words.

"So how much have you heard of what's been going on 'round here?" Silvia asked, her eyes briefly taking a hardened gleam to them before softening.

"Only what was in the paper, and that's only every few cities. I thought it would be cruel to hinder Taipa by making him deliver a _Daily Prophet_ to me when I kept moving around," Aurelia explained.

"So then you don't know about the incidents," Via began, continuing at her cousin's already aggrieved expression. "Incidents with Muggles mostly. Some dustbins acting up on various witches and wizards; even a few carpets falling out of the sky. They've all been recalled and banned throughout Britain. It's brooms, Floo or portkey for those under Apparition age now."

"More for my business, I suppose," said Aurelia softly. "What about the Muggle incidents?"

"There've been about three attacks since your last homecoming," Silvia explained. Three wasn't a bad number, considering the previous attacks had totaled to seven. "One attack was at a park just outside Dover on a couple. _Prophet_ thinks it was Death Eaters, but it could have been anything. The Muggles were so confused and scared they didn't know what they saw. Another was in Sheffield on an old man and the last was right here in London. She was the sister of Benjy Fenwick, Muggle-born wizard. No one knows if it was coincidence or if You-Know-Who actually has it in for him."

"Benjy Fenwick? Targeted by You-Know-Who? I thought he was a pacifist," Aurelia admitted, slightly confused.

"I thought so too, but apparently not. Ministry couldn't even release specific details to the _Prophet_ because of how grisly it was in nature. It is a wonder the poor chit wasn't killed," Silvia divulged. "It makes me loathe my job sometimes, reading reports like that from the Aurors." _Not to mention all the yawns that come from The Wizengamot, _she thought._ Whoever dictates their reports takes all the fun out of law enforcement._

"And you said nothing monumental happened while I was away," Aurelia chastised.

"Depends on how you look at things I guess. I tend to be looking more for the things of the fun and exciting variety. Some people, such as yourself, tend to want the serious and depressing news. You, luv, are far more somber than you used to be. I blame the traveling; it made you mature and business-like," Silvia said, taking her finger away from her chin where she had been pretending to think.

Lia raised an eyebrow in response. "Is that so? I can't say you, Miss Colton, have stayed the same. You have a good albeit boring job. Somehow you still keep the boys and booze lifestyle. You have a job at the Ministry…"

"You mentioned that one already," Via pointed out.

"Bugger. Maybe you haven't changed." Aurelia laughed.

Silvia joined in. "Besides the whole _worldly_ aspect, you really haven't changed. Otherwise you're still little Lia Colton, the cousin I pushed into the fish pond when she turned seven."

"Now isn't that a pleasant memory," Aurelia said, smirking. "You ruined a perfectly good sundress on five minutes of non-stop laughter. I hope you were proud of yourself. You know the reason I don't celebrate my birthday anymore is because of you." Silvia was rolling out of her chair by this time and Aurelia tried unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. "Speaking of memories, I find it oddly comical that we still replay the exact same thing that happened when we got off the train first year at school every time we meet."

"Because it keeps us youthful and childish," Silvia explained getting back onto her chair. "Not to mention we were absolutely adorable when we were eleven."

"And we're not adorable now?" said Lia with a faked stricken expression.

"Now we're just drop dead sexy. There's no denying it, sweetheart. Besides, two grown women such as ourselves hugging like that…it's practically every git's dream. We have got to please the masses once in awhile. 'Sides, its tradition," Silvia said with a wicked grin.

"Uh-huh. We kept this one out of the hundreds we've made," Aurelia replied.

Silvia's grin widened. "What? Would you rather have kept the one where we dance in the rain during thunderstorms or the one where we skinny-dip in the pool every time we stay at a hotel? Actually both of those were wizard traditions. Why'd you veto them?"

"Perhaps because they are far too immature. Do you even realize how idiotic we were as kids? I mean, we're in our twenties now and we've almost outgrown those things. Please, Via, you have to let them go." Aurelia feinted indifference.

"Where is the fun in that, dear Aurelia? We had some good times when we were children. I happen to think we were smarter then. Young and full of innocence," Silvia said, somewhat wistfully.

"Innocent? Via, you were never innocent. Not even as a first year…" Aurelia said reminiscently.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm immoral and demeaning to women," Silvia waved it off with her hand, having heard it all before given her free lifestyle. She looked down at her watch and noticed the time. They had spent nearly four hours together sitting, talking, and drinking. "Bugger. Lia, luv, we have to cut this short. I have work in the morning, as I'm sure you do as well."

The two women stood up, their chairs scrapping across the floor loudly. Downing the last of their drinks, they looked to one another. Neither wanted to leave each other again but both knew they would have to sooner or later. They had separate lives, whether they wanted them or not.

Aurelia walked towards Silvia. "How 'bout we end this how it began?"

"I like the way you think, cuz," Silvia replied.

She caught Aurelia in a giant bear hug and laughed as they both tried to squeeze each other as hard as possible. Before either could say 'uncle', they had both backed off with smiles on their faces.

"I'll catch you around, Lia. Send Taipa anytime you want to meet. I'll do the same," said Silvia, walking to the door alongside Aurelia.

"It's been a blast," said Lia at last.

Silvia walked away into the rain not bothering to pull the hood of her cloak up. There wasn't a point when she could just use a Drying Charm once she got home. She thought about how different Aurelia and herself were. There were things they didn't know about each other's lives since they left Hogwarts, even while they were there. And frankly, Silvia was glad. She didn't want her cousin to know what she'd done in her life, what she was. She couldn't say there were regrets; she was doing the same thing as her friends. She tended to enjoy it, even though she enjoyed absolutely everything. Turning around, she saw Aurelia still standing in the alley watching her leave. Silvia blew a kiss, turned back around and with a _POP_ apparated mid-stride.

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**Author's Note:** Reviews are wanted--and needed. They're like candy, and who doesn't love candy? 


	2. Hats and Brooms

_Past_

**CHAPTER II**

_Hats and Brooms_

Every person on the train was jerked violently out of their seats as the Hogwart's Express pulled into the station. The trunk that Aurelia had been pulling out of the storage compartment above had flown over her head and landed right on Frank Longbottom's lap.

"Sorry!" she said helplessly, retrieving her bag from him.

She had chosen the dullest compartment on the entire train for her first ride to school. Longbottom was the only one she'd actually spoken with. The other four first years were silent throughout the whole tip. Lia had asked their names, but honestly didn't care enough to remember them.

The train was abuzz with kids gathering their belongings and shuffling out the doors into the dark and quiet Hogsmeade. Aurelia was among them, being shoved aside by a group of third years. She heard a resounding, strict voice above the muffled conversations of students that called, "First years, this way! Follow me, all first years!"

Aurelia was pushing past the flow of students to find the source of the voice when she collided with someone. Before she could lose her balance, she stepped backwards and brought herself upright. She was about to make another pathetic apology when she realized who it was she had bumped into.

"VIA?" she screeched. The call was met with a shriek which was deciphered as, "LIA?"

The two cousins ran into each other's arms and stood in an embrace for several long moments. When they separated, smiled flashed across their faces, followed by looks of complete confusion. They were two first years that had no idea where they were or where they needed to go and couldn't find anyone who could help them. What did they have to be happy about?

"Do you know—"

"Have you seen—"

The girls answered one another's questions by shaking their heads slightly.

They were doomed.

Fortunately the loud voice that must have been using _sonorus_, boomed again closer to where the two girls were standing. They turned to each other with smiles on their faces.

"Let's try that way," Aurelia suggested.

"God, this is so confusing. Glad you're here though, Lia." Silvia granted her cousin with a bigger smile as they made their way through the crowd of students trying to find the loud voice.

Aurelia had taken Silvia's hand so they wouldn't get separated. "I thought you were supposed to go to Beauxbatons, Via!"

Silvia looked back and the smirk was evident on her face. "I got dad to talk mum out of it. She settled instead for having me get my wand from some Frenchie guy. I really didn't care, as long as it works the same."

"This is perfect! Maybe we'll get sorted into the same house," Aurelia beamed.

"I don't know if they could handle both of us in the same house," Silvia joked. "Supposedly, we're quite the handful."

They both laughed. "Think: If we got into the same house as Romey, we could annoy him twice as much," Aurelia pointed out.

"Isn't that the truth," Silvia consented, grinning.

The two small girls arrived at the edge of a large crowd at the very front of which was the source of the loud voice. "First years, come this way!" A few more minutes of shouting and it looked as if finally all the eleven-year-olds had shown up. "Alright, we are to go across the lake in boats. No pushing, no shoving, and four to a boat. NO MORE."

Slowly the children made their way to boats and sat down in them, surprised when the boats began moving after four people were inside of them. Aurelia and Silvia opted to go in the same boat. One of the boat's other occupants had a worried expression from the object's self-movement. He looked almost as if he were going to be sick. His friend, on the other hand, was having a marvelous time, even leaning halfway over the boat to get a good look into the dark water.

"It's completely safe, you know," said Aurelia soothingly, settling her eyes on the worried one. "Doubt the headmaster would have nothing to say if he lost a few first years to the lake, don't you think?"

"Thanks. I'm just not used to magic yet. My parents are Muggles," the boy explained. "My name's Davy Gudgeon."

"Nice to meet you. This is Silvia," she replied, motioning at her cousin who raised a hand in response. "And I'm Aurelia. Would you mind…?"

Davy shook his head and moved over on the seat, making room for the two girls. They climbed aboard and the boat began floating through the water as soon as Silvia and Aurelia were sitting. There was not much conversation on the water, mostly because everyone was too busy staring in awe at the castle. The girls did learn that the name of Davy's friend was Emit Jorkins, but he was much too preoccupied with his surroundings to care about what they had to say.

In no time at all, they were across the lake, up the stairs and in the entrance hall of the castle, continuing to stare and point. A tall woman in emerald green robes with reading glasses and a tight bun concealed beneath a crooked black hat, stood before them and pursed her lips. She addressed the first years and made it clear that they were to enter the hall orderly behind her. As the doors to the Great Hall opened, the entire group hushed, pursuing the professor awkwardly. Four tables stretched the length of the hall, which was in itself enormous, and hundreds of students followed the procession with their eyes lazily.

Standing before them in the front of the hall was the tall woman, who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. Behind her was what looked like an ordinary stool and a rather dirty and ratty old wizard's hat. In sync all the first years turned their attention to the hat, staring at it, wondering what was going to happen. To their amazement one of the seams ripped open near the brim of the hat to form a type of mouth. If that wasn't strange enough, it started singing. The song wasn't any random bar ditty, but one about the school, focusing on the houses. The self proclaimed Sorting Hat.

A few lines stuck out though to all of the students, not really knowing that the Sorting Hat took it upon himself to give the students warnings once in awhile.

_Many a head have I sat_

_Picking, choosing what is best_

_For I am the Sorting Hat_

_Though none have I wrongly placed_

_Inside your mind I find the choice_

_Putting you on future's path_

_Expressing thoughts you do not voice_

_A solemn duty placed unto me_

_By the founders of this school_

_Using talents to create each house_

_None of which was a fool_

_They knew not the wonder they'd create_

_But heed this warning here I give_

_Some things seen have not been heard_

_Circumstances that affect the way we live_

_Foul times approach us all_

_But now is not the time for panic_

_For one thing will keep harm away_

_To most it will seem quite basic_

_Allegiances built and broken_

_Friendships made in days spent here_

_Shall help pave the way_

_And will prove to be most dear_

_Careful now as new power rises_

The rest of the student seemed stunned by this passage and the already nervous first years were bordering on breakdowns. That was until Professor McGonagall took control of the situation again. She stepped forward with a long scroll of parchment in her hand. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be Sorted." She gave them all a stern look, clearly saying she wanted no funny business. "Aubrey, Bertram!"

A boy behind Aurelia let out a soft squeak, which startled her. He brushed past her and a few students in the front rows to stand before Professor McGonagall, petrified. She gestured to the stool beside her and watched skeptically as the boy sat clumsily upon it. McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat unceremoniously on top of his head and all the first years watched anxiously. After about ten seconds of humming, the hat called out, "RAVENCLAW!"

It took the first years by surprise and some of them jumped. The outside right table broke out in applause and the hat was lifted off Aubrey's head as he went to join his new house. McGonagall, however, wasted no time in calling out the next name.

"Avery, Brian!" He was sorted into Slytherin.

"Belby, Marcus!" Ravenclaw.

"Black, Sirius!" Gryffindor.

"Colton, Aurelia!"

Aurelia's eyes popped for a moment and then she straightened her back, looked beside her at Silvia and gave her a nervous smile. She walked up to the stool, turned around and sat down. That same second, she felt the weight of the Sorting Hat on top of her head. Her vision darkened because the hat had slid down her forehead and covered her eyes. Then she heard a voice.

_Another Colton, eh?_

She tried to look around to see who had said it, but the weight of the hat restricted her movement and it wasn't as if she could see anyway…

_Brave, loyal, quite smart, but a knack for making trouble. This isn't too difficult._

"GRYFFINDOR!" she heard the hat yell to the rest of the school and applause broke out to her left. Aurelia smiled as she regained her vision, jumped off the stool and walked toward the hands waving her to empty seats from the Gryffindor table. Passing by the group of remaining first years, she caught Silvia's eye and winked.

"Colton, Silvia!"

Lia slid into a seat between a sixth year prefect and the other Gryffindor first year. She didn't waste time on introductions yet, for she was anxiously awaiting the Sorting Hat's announcement of Silvia's house. But the hat was in no rush. Via's shadowed mouth formed into a frown as the hat hummed upon her head.

Finally, it called out, "SLYTHERIN!"

Applause exploded from the other end of the hall. Aurelia's eyes fell. The Gryffindors around her, however, stayed completely silent, a few casting her cousin dirty looks.

It was rotten that the girls had been sorted into the two houses that despised one another. Aurelia feared their friendship would unravel because of this incident. Maybe even…this mistake? Would she still act the same around Via? Or would the houses sever their friendship? Her pondering was interrupted as the Sorting Hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" and she joined in the applause.

By the time the last first year was sorted, every stomach in the hall was grumbling. The headmaster's speech consisted of nine words.

"There's time for formal introduction later. Now, tuck in!"

Silvia sat back in her seat next to her new housemates and thought about what had just happened. She had figured out that the sorting hat could talk and inevitably see into your head from its song at the beginning of the ceremony, but for some reason, the things it had said were unnerving.

_Another one of you? Let's see then. Plenty of smarts, not lacking in courage, but ambition to the roof. Easier than I thought, eh?_

And then it had shouted out Slytherin. Via had to admit she seemed to fit here. You couldn't have the favorite animal of a snake without wanting to be in the house with that as its emblem. She was staring more at her food then eating it. One of the boys next to her tried to steal her cauldron cake. Without looking up she informed him evenly, "Touch it and I'll burn you to a crisp."

A dark-haired girl to her right let out a chuckle. "I like this one," she commented to the blonde girl sitting next to her. "She'll fit in just fine."

"I'm sure she will," the blonde agreed.

Turning back to Silvia, the dark-haired girl held out a hand. "I'm Bellatrix Black, and that's my sister Narcissa."

Silvia could tell Bella had to be at least a sixth year and Narcissa looked to be maybe half of that. "Silvia Colton." She took Bellatrix's hand, giving it a brief shake.

"Colton? Are you related to the two Gryffs?" Bella asked not bothering to hide her scorn.

"We're cousins," Silvia responded.

Both girls let out an understanding sound. "We know how that is. Did you see the Black that just got sorted into Gryffindor? He's our cousin," Narcissa explained. "First one to do _that_. His mum will be in a right state when she finds out."

Silvia laughed at that. "I take it most of your family gets into Slytherin."

"All but Sirius," Bella said with a scowl, looking towards the Gryffindor table.

- - - - -

After the feast, Dumbledore warned first years about the Forbidden Forest and that it was named that for a reason (at this, many of the students around Aurelia sniggered) and added a few announcements about Quidditch try-outs, Charms Club and other extracurricular activities. He also warned all the students and staff about a new tree that had been planted on the outskirts of the grounds. Dumbledore called it a Whomping Willow and advised everyone not to come across its path.

When he had finished, the prefects stood up and ushered the first years out of the Great Hall. Aurelia was caught in the mob of confused students who had clustered into the entrance hall, but was unable to find any of the Gryffindor prefects. Before she could get sucked into the masses even further, a red-haired girl tugged gently on the sleeve of her robes and called her name. She turned around and came face to face with one of the first years she had spoken to during dinner. Her name was Lily Evans.

Together, they waded through their fellow first years and finally spotted the retreating Gryffindor group heading for the stairs. They followed at a sprint and when they were shoved carelessly into the back of the group by a couple of third year Slytherins, they looked at each other and smirked, as if saying, "We made it."

About five minutes later, the two prefects who led them stood in front of a portrait of a rather fat and ugly lady and announced, "Felix Felicis." The fat lady smiled and said, "Correct," and the portrait swung open on hinges to reveal the Gryffindor Common Room. Aurelia's first impression of the place was large, red and spacey. There were couches, desks and chairs scattered neatly about the room and a fireplace was to the right. Stairs to the left led to the boy's dormitories and stairs to the right led to the girls'. There were moving portraits all over the walls and hearthrugs across the floor.

A ghost whom Lia had seen from a distance in the Great Hall floated towards them and upon greeting them, grabbing a chunk of his hair with his transparent hand and lifted his head right off his neck. There was only a sliver of skin that kept his head from falling off. Most of the first years let out disgusted noises, but three or four boys in the back simultaneously murmured, "Wicked!"

He introduced himself as Nearly Headless Nick and welcomed them to Gryffindor House. Then he passed through crowd of first years and someone let loose a screech. Aurelia was confused as to why until Nearly Headless Nick passed straight through her. She received the largest set of chills she had ever remembered experiencing; the most uncomfortable feeling she had ever had.

"Please head up to your dormitories and unpack your trunks," said the prefect standing at the foot of the boy's staircase. "Feel free to look around, but know that the curfew is seven o'clock. It is against the rules to wonder the corridors at night."

With that, the group split in two, one veering to the right and the other left. Aurelia followed Lily up the stairs, looking over her shoulder as older students started to flood into the Common Room.

No one was sure where anything was, so the girls searched each room, trying desperately to find their trunks. A few fifth years had filed up the staircase and realized their dilemma. They directed them to their trunks effortlessly and headed to their own rooms.

Aurelia shared a room with Lily Evans, Emily Perkins, Frieda Derkson and Maria Vouldora. They were all friendly, so Lia didn't foresee any problems in living with them for the next seven years. Lily was a kind, intelligent and optimistic. She was Muggle-born, but half the time didn't act like she was new to the wizarding world. She reminded Aurelia faintly of a premature prefect with a touch of style. Emily was quiet and shy, only speaking up when she had something clever or interesting to add to a conversation. Her blonde hair and soft, blue eyes were framed in pale skin, making her look almost ghoulish, but she was far from unsightly. Frieda and Maria were both purebloods who had been friends long before they came to Hogwarts. They laughed and joked about things the others could not understand, but often filled their new roommates in on stories in their past. As Aurelia listened to their chatter, she began thinking about Silvia.

For her part, Silvia had not forgotten about her cousin, but her mind was preoccupied with listening to Bellatrix and Narcissa as they lead her to the Slytherin Common Room. Bella stood in front of a seemingly ordinary stone wall and gave Silvia a grin before saying, "_Dura necessitas." _Before three pairs of eyes, the wall melted away to reveal a room set in the dungeon of Hogwarts. Stepping over the threshold she felt a bit of cold air from the surrounding stone walls before the blazing fires warmth hit her. The room was filled with green or black chairs and sofas with tables that looked to be made of cherry or walnut. It had a lower ceiling than most of the rooms she'd seen so far in the castle. And yet she liked it here; it felt comfortable to her.

"The password is a little over the top this year. Prefect had to study Latin over the summer. It translates to 'necessary is harsh'. So what do you think?" Narcissa motioned to the room around her.

"It's brilliant. Drafty, but I've always liked the cold," Via commented.

"It's 'cause we're under the lake," Bella explained, lounging on a nearby couch. The other two sat near her. "They keep the fires going all the time though."

Silvia had been about to respond when someone let out a loud curse and walked over towards their group. A pale haired boy sat down flanked by two others that could, at best, be described as meatheads. "I hate first years," he complained, his hand running through his hair.

Silvia looked straight at Bella and raised an eyebrow. A mischievous smile came on Narcissa's face and she winked, causing Silvia to grin.

"Lucius, it is always so nice to hear your voice," Bella sneered, earning a pointed glare from her sister.

"Bellatrix, Narcissa, how was your summer?" Lucius asked.

"Andie's acting up again," Bella's face was indifferent but soon broke into a sly smile. "So what's this about first years?"

"They're always getting in the way."

"You just didn't find the best one that's all." Bellatrix's smile grew larger and Lucius turned to see Silvia for the first time.

"Found a favorite, did you, Bella?" Lucius asked.

"Sure did. She's a firecracker—already threatening the others."

"Firecracker? I prefer the term loose cannon," Silvia remarked, completely relaxed with the situation.

Lucius raised a questioning eyebrow and Bella seemed to grin like a cat. "Told you she was the best."

"Merlin, Bella, when you talk like that I feel like some Kneazle," Via complained.

Needless to say, Silvia had made three more friends, all older than her. Well, that's if you could count the two meatheads as actual people and not muscle mass.

She had gone to her dormitory later in the evening and met some of the girls she shared the room with of her own age. Elizabeth Baddock turned out to have an extremely wicked personality and Silvia knew they would get along perfectly. Amanda Harper was more reserved and seemed to like her personal space and peace and quiet. Silvia had to think that she wouldn't get much of that with her and Elizabeth sharing a dorm. Ivie Davis didn't seem to mind any of what went on as long as it didn't mess up her long blonde hair. And last of all Tabitha Greengrass proved to be the brainiest of the bunch, or at least the one who showed it. She did have the ability to let her brunette hair down though, she just needed gentle reminders.

Silvia lay in her bed late at night after they had all stopped talking like the eleven-year-old girls they were. She had made a horde of new friends today and quite liked her new house, yet her thoughts kept drifting to Aurelia. What was going to happen to their bond?

- - - - -

The next couple of weeks at Hogwarts were murder. Aurelia was flooded with homework, which contained an excessive amount of essays—and in this area, Lia had little experience. None were particularly difficult, but there were plenty of them to keep her occupied most of her free time.

Spells came as easily to Aurelia as snapping her fingers, so naturally Transfiguration and Charms classes were a breeze. Lia was not a brilliant Potions student, however, Professor Slughorn seemed to notice some 'forthcoming potential,' though she knew it had nothing to do with her. Romey was the talent in the family and Slughorn had already set up his pawns in her brother's future.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was Aurelia's preferred subject, enjoying every minute of every lesson and listening intently to explanations and uses of counter jinxes. She never took notes, however, because she could retain very large amounts of information if need be. To add to her delectation of the class, most of her recently attained Gryffindor companions surrounded her. The professor wasn't too strict, so when they were supposed to be writing, Emily and Frieda would turn around in their seats to talk with her.

It was much the same setting in History of Magic, only DADA never bored her to death. The entire class consisted of nothing but constant lecture. Professor Binns babbled on in his monotone drawl until Aurelia finally gave up trying to pay attention altogether. Usually by the end of class, her notebook was strewn with letter and stick figures where her and Benji Toffmore had played five or six games of hangman. The only students actually listening were Lily and a boy Aurelia knew as Remus Lupin. He was rather coy, yet amiable and quite intelligent. Despite his timid presence, he seemed to have stricken up an unlikely friendship with his roommates, who turned out to be the most reckless and troublesome pair of the year.

In the two weeks since their arrival, James Potter and Sirius Black had received three detentions and several warnings. Mostly, they sneaked out of the Common Room at night, without alarming the Fat Lady and roamed the corridors. Mr. Woldrum, the caretaker, had had enough of them after the fifth night, when they tracked mud up the stairs coming in after dark. Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, believed punishment should play to your fears, so a number of the detentions she assigned took place in the Forbidden Forest. Aurelia, along with the half the student body, laughed at this idea, because James and Sirius were not the least bit afraid to enter those woods. If anything, they enjoyed their little midnight treks, looking for animals with the gamekeeper, Hagrid, or some other odd task. Sirius often joked about how it was a privilege more than a punishment to enter restricted areas when "good kids have to mind the 'keep out' signs."

Flying lessons were Aurelia's heaven. The first class had been difficult, but she was aided by Davy Gudgeon, who had gotten the hang of brooms his first few minutes in contact with one. It was thrilling to be in the air, feeling the wind against her skin as she rode across the field. Everyone around her seemed to be having a good time as well and only one or two students couldn't get their brooms to fly at all. But unlike other classes, flying lessons were merged with separate houses and unbeknownst to either house, Gryffindor and Slytherin had been paired.

For Aurelia, it was the only time during the week that she saw Silvia other than mealtimes. They dared not speak to each other for fear of their new friends finding out that their relationship was beyond _just _family. Maria Vouldora right down to Benji Toffmore thought very reprovingly of the _other_ Colton, mostly because of the company Silvia kept. The reputations of Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix and Narcissa Black (the last two reinforced by Sirius) were shady, dark and far from clean. At least that's what elder students had to say. Several of the teachers were under the impression the three Slytherins were smart and well behaved. As those professors commented on how pleasant they had been to have in class, Sirius nearly laughed aloud.

Flying lessons did not always go as smoothly as the first one. Tensions had grown almost immediately after the first years were sorted between Slytherin and Gryffindor. The other two houses tended to be mediators but shared in a hatred of the Slytherins. But for some reason it was seen as intelligent to place the houses that hated each other the most in the same lesson where they would learn to fly on brooms high above the ground. To think no small inflictions upon one another would be made was to think Dementors were teddy bears. This particular lesson, though, the tensions were escalated.

Severus Snape was not the most graceful thing on two legs and apparently it was the same case on a broom. While most of his housemates had no problems, being purebloods, he seemed to have difficulty getting the broom off of the ground. Avery and Rosier tried their best to help the greasy haired boy, but it just wasn't to be.

"Come on, Severus, just concentrate," Evan tried, encouragingly.

Once again Snape looked down at his broom and gave it the command to jump into his hand. Only difference was this time, it did. The other Slytherins beamed at Snape, happy for their housemate's success. Severus swung a leg over his broom and carefully kicked off from the ground. He hovered a few feet and seemed to be getting the hang of it. That was until he lurched forward, straight into Davy Gudgeon, who in turn went straight into a wall. The crunch that came from the impact was sickening.

Madam Hooch ran forward and collected Davy carefully, making sure he could walk without hurting himself. She turned back to the other children, commanding, "No one is to leave the ground until I come back. Is this understood?"

"Yes, Madam Hooch," The first years echoed obediently.

Once their instructor was out of sight and hearing, all hell broke loose.

"Way to go, Snivellus! Not only are you an elephant on the ground but you're even worse in the air," Sirius Black taunted. All the Gryffindors around him laughed.

"At least I got off the ground, unlike _Lupin_," Snape spat back, causing the Slytherins to chortle.

"Why you little—"

"—stupid prat."

Sirius and James were both red and fuming, unable to start or finish a complete sentence.

"What's the matter, Potter? Are you _embarrassed_ by your friend?"

"Oh, that's it!" James shouted and leapt on top of Snape, wands completely forgotten.

Potter leaping on Snape caused Avery to leap on him, which brought in Black and it went from there until all the Gryffindor and Slytherin males were punching and kicking each other on the ground. The girls weren't left out; they settle more for catfights and spewing volatile words at one another.

"Stupid cow!"

"Goodie-goodie!"

"Prick!"

"Git!"

The only two not joining were Silvia and Aurelia Colton. They just turned their heads in sync and looked at each other, rolling their eyes. They let out a collective sigh, knowing what they'd have to do. The girls they left alone, since it was more lashing out with words then fists, so they confronted the boys instead.

Both Colton girls attempted to pull people out from the pile of limbs but were kicked out of the way in return. After several unsuccessful attempts they looked at one another again and pulled out their wands with scowls on their faces.

"STUPEFY!"

Aurelia and Silvia kept this up until no one in the pile was moving. Slowly Silvia dragged the Slytherin boys to one side while Aurelia dragged the Gryffindor boys to another. When they had them all settled, they went to work reviving with '_rennervate_'. When they woke up, they were met with stern glares from the Colton girls.

"Just what—"

"—do you think—"

"—you were doing?"

Both groups of boys were completely stunned to see two girls had just put a stop of the dog pile they had created. All the boys were lying on the ground until Remus stood up and walked back to his broom. Sirius and James followed suit, glaring back at the pile of Slytherin boys in the grass ten feet away. Seeing as how the classmates' mess had been cleaned up, the Colton girls turned to look at each other, nodded, and went back to their brooms. The girls had stopped shouting at each other after a little while, realizing the boys were no longer going at it. Once Madam Hooch returned with a sour look on her face, as was expected because of Davy's injury, everything was exactly how it had been when she'd left. The only difference was that the Slytherins and Gryffindors were giving each other even dirtier looks than they had been before.

Aurelia planted her feet firmly on the ground, straddled her broom and gripped the wood tightly. Madam Hooch passed by her to observe her posture, then offered her a curt nod before moving on to the next student down the line.

She stepped sideways a few feet as Remus came up next to her, broom in hand, looking very determined. At first, she thought he might have wanted to ask for her help on flying, but instead he asked, "Where did you learn that spell?"

Lia smirked. "I'm a pureblood—well, for the most part—and my parents taught me a few things before I started school. Nothing big, just a few minor spells."

"You didn't have a wand, then, did you?" he asked casually.

"No, of course not. I borrowed my dad's."

"Is it hard to stun someone?"

Aurelia had opened her mouth to answer his question, but before any words came out, Madam Hooch had swept upon them and was advising Remus how to sit on his broom properly.

Silvia was receiving some glares from the Slytherins but they stopped once they received _her_ glare. Elizabeth took the time while Madam Hooch was concerned with some Gryffindors to walk her broom next to Silvia's.

"Why did you stop it?" Elizabeth asked bluntly.

Silvia raised an eyebrow but answered, nonetheless. "Simply 'cause we don't need the rest of the house mad for losing points in a _wandless_ fight."

"I guess that makes sense." Lizzie looked down for a second chewing on her bottom lip before looking back up at Silvia. "Where'd you learn to stun someone so well?"

"My dad's in law enforcement. He insisted on teaching me basic spells once I was old enough to hold a wand. Well, his wand at least."

"Merlin, you're lucky! My parents wouldn't let me anywhere near their wands. Said I'd blow up something. As if!" Both girls started laughing and Madam Hooch came over.

"Having a good time, hmm? Well, lets see how you're doing?" the flying instructor commanded.

Silvia obediently called her broom up and straddled it like she had been taught. She received a nod before her gaze turned to Elizabeth who did the same easily. Madam Hooch walked on and the pair of Slytherin girls had smirks on their faces.

"Where'd you learn magic like _that_, Lia?" Emily asked her enthusiastically while they were walking back to the school from lessons fifteen minutes later.

Aurelia was getting sick of relaying her spoiled childhood memories to her peers. She had been asked how she'd learned the spell, where her father worked and how hard doing a spell like that actually was. By and large, the questions came from the boys she had used the spell on. They were fascinated by how two girls had broken up their scrabble. Others were embarrassed that two girls had broken them up. As they passed a group of Slytherin boys, they glared at her and walked away. Aurelia sniggered and looked back to Emily.

"You know, steal a wand here, break an antique vase there," she said mischievously.

- - - - - - - - -

**Author's Notes:** First year and its not over yet! Anywho, here are the characters we created if you were wondering, but you can probably tell. Other random character we made up including: Emily Perkins, Frieda Derkson, Maria Vouldora, Elizabeth Baddock, Amanda Harper, Ivie Davis, Tabitha Greengrass (all the roommates) and Emit Jorkins (though we did make his name so that he could be a younger brother of Bertha Jorkins). I believe that's it, so other than those people, the rest is Rowling's.


	3. Detention to Discrepancy

_ Past_

**CHAPTER III **

_ Detention to Discrepancy _

The next morning the questions had died down considerably, but a few lingered. When Bella had heard the stories she had cracked up and then congratulated Silvia on a good stunner. The first year Slytherins had figured out that Silvia Colton was not someone to mess with unless you wanted to be hexed. She was easily annoyed by the questions and just stopped answering them all together.

Silvia drank from her goblet of orange juice when she heard the flapping of several wings sounding the arrival of the morning post. It was always pleasant to watch all of the owls soaring down from the rafters with letters, _Daily Prophets_, and other packages. Like most first years, she had received a package from home within her first week. It was mostly things her mother _thought_ she needed, which in reality she didn't. Who _really_ needed a shower cap? But that was her mother for you, always thinking of the impractical things.

It was surprising when an owl landed in front Silvia and stuck out its leg with a letter attached. Silvia took off the letter and gave the owl the crust off her toast. She unrolled the letter while taking a bite from her toast and began reading.

_Dear Silvia,_

_You can't even imagine what the past couple of weeks have been like for me. I've made a bunch of new friends, but I can't talk to them like I can talk to you. I was thinking, maybe we could meet on Thursday night. Write me back and let me know when and where. I'd rather your new friends not know about it, if possible._

_Tadpole_

Silvia re-read the letter before crumpling it up. She went on eating her breakfast like nothing happened, but planning what to write back to Aurelia in her head. Narcissa leaned over and asked what the letter was about. Silvia looked at her with a wicked grin answering, "Fan mail."

Once she got out of the Great Hall she found an empty classroom and took out a piece of parchment and ink intending to write a reply back to her cousin.

_Dear Aurelia,_

_I think I know what you mean. I mean the friends I've made are great, but it's just not the same as when I talk with you. Thursday would work fine, how about we meet in the empty charms classroom…say maybe 6:00? Don't worry I'd rather not have to deal with curious people getting in the way._

_Fire-top_

She went up to the Owlery and attached the letter to a bird before running to catch her first class.

A half an hour later, Professor McGonagall was rapping her fingers on her desk, where her head had fallen sometime during the lesson.

"Are you trying to inform me, Miss Colton, that my classes are not worth your time or that they are too boring to even make an effort to stay awake during?" she asked accusingly.

"Its not that there boring—well they are—but I prefer the more _practical_ sessions of class." Silvia admitted more bluntly then she intended too.

"Is that so? Well then perhaps you would like to give suggestions as to improve the quality of _my_ class." McGonagall proposed stonily.

"Well," Silvia started knowing nothing good was going to happen after this. "We don't need to know so much of the procedure. I mean _Gryffindors_ might but we are a little quicker on the uptake. And—"

"Miss Colton I believe that if enough for now." McGonagall seethed.

"Of course Professor."

"I would like you to see me after class Miss Colton." McGonagall turned around from Silvia's desk and walked towards the front of her classroom again.

"Yes Professor." Silvia rolled her eyes.

Elizabeth leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Now you've done it luv." Silvia gave her a smirk in return.

After class McGonagall told Silvia that she would be having detention on Thursday night at seven o'clock cleaning out the Transfiguration classrooms without the use of magic so that she could maybe gain an appreciation for the subject. Silvia decided not to point out that she already liked the subject, she just didn't like the explanation. It didn't really matter than she caught on to spells quickly. She wouldn't tell the head of Gryffindor that, no way in hell. It was only after she left the classroom that she realized her detention was on Thursday.

- - - - -

"Detention! Tomorrow! How could she, that git!"

Aurelia was absolutely furious with Silvia, but hadn't realized she'd been yelling after she received her cousin's second letter that day. Lily walked into the room with her mouth half open as if to reprimand her roommate, but calmly asked, "What's wrong, Lia?"

"Oh," she said absentmindedly. She had no idea what to say to Lily and she cursed herself for making such a racket about changing the day of their meeting. Now she had to make something up. "I was just, uh, upset about…getting detention."

Lily's surprise was genuine. First, her eyes widened and then she opened her mouth twice without words coming out. Finally she managed to get out, "What for?"

"Um, I—it was really stupid. Professor McGonagall—" Aurelia stumbled over her words.

"That's just awful," Lily said sympathetically, leaving Lia thankful she didn't actually have to explain. "Well, I have to get to my homework. If you want to do it together, you can come down. I'll be by the fireplace."

"Sure, be down in a minute."

Lily smiled politely, grabbed her book bag and walked out the door. Aurelia sighed miserably. How the hell was she supposed to get herself a detention tomorrow?

- - - - -

The next day, Aurelia Colton had a plan. She was going to get a detention, specifically from McGonagall and hopefully the same one as Silvia. Her cousin didn't know about it yet, but she would have helped her out if she had known.

Aurelia had woken up earlier then most students, but with the knowledge that there wouldn't be as many people in the Great Hall, which is exactly what she was aiming for. All she could do was hope that the key people had gotten up as early as she had. Walking into the Great Hall, she surveyed all who were inside. She was pleased to see hardly any of her fellow first year house mates up, especially Lily. Her eyes traveled over to the Slytherin table and she spotted Silvia sitting with the Black sisters. She looked back down the table towards her, trying to find the ideal target, and her gaze fell on the greasy head of Severus Snape. _Perfect_, she thought.

McGonagall was sitting at the staff table speaking loosely to Professor Flitwick. It would probably take a little loitering to get her full attention, but Lia didn't think she'd have any problems, especially with Slughorn watching.

She started to walk forward, ebbing closer to the Slytherin table as she made her way down the aisle. Severus was sitting about two feet down from Via and her group of friends. He was eating porridge for breakfast and to the side was set his Potions textbook.

When Aurelia had gotten close enough, she held up her nose and glared ahead of her. The moment she reached Severus, she pushed his greasy head straight into his bowl of porridge, making sure she felt his face hit the bottom. Immediately, she let her hand fall to her robes and wiped it across them several times, as if she had just dipped her hand into a bucket of oil. Severus lifted his head out of the bowl and inhaled deeply. His face was covered in gobs of chunky porridge that started running down his face and onto his robes.

"Oh, gracious, Severus, did I just do that?" Aurelia asked in mock concern. Then she gestured to his nose. "Shame I didn't break it. One would have figured, with its sheer size and all…" But Snape wasn't listening. He was too busy trying to wipe off his face with napkins. There was laughter coming from all ends of the hall now. Out of the corner of her eye, Aurelia could see McGonagall and Slughorn arguing, giving her more time that she had no use for. She grabbed the Potions book off the table and waved it at him fleetingly while saying, "You might think twice before stealing someone's book again."

"I never stole—" Severus started to protest, but he was cut short as Aurelia opened the book and turned to the first page.

"Oh drat!" she said in faked disappointment. "This was yours after all. Ah, well,"—she dropped the book back onto the table and smiled, knowing that McGonagall was heading strait for her—"it was worth it."

"Miss Colton!" came a clearly irritated voice to her right.

"Yes, Professor?" She glanced at Severus, cleaning up the porridge that had oozed out of the sides of the bowl and onto the table, and then turned her eyes to McGonagall.

"What just happened?"

"I pushed Severus' head into his breakfast, Professor," Lia answered casually.

"Why on _earth_ would you do that?"

Aurelia turned her head to look towards the entrance to the Great Hall, then to Snape, and back to McGonagall, as if the teacher had just given her a riddle. She shrugged and replied, "Spur of the moment, Professor."

McGonagall did not look amused but Lia could hear the sniggers coming from the Gryffindor table. The professor glanced at Snape to see if he was alright and when he had passed for physically fine but emotionally damaged, she returned her attention to Lia once more.

"You may have noticed that at this school, we do not dunk our schoolmates' heads into their breakfasts simply because we've gotten bored. You Colton's are prone to stirring things up, aren't you?" Aurelia smirked, something that did not please McGonagall one bit. "You will be receiving detention tonight at seven o'clock in the Transfiguration classroom. You will be serving your punishment with your cousin."

Both girls flashed scowls at one another, but when the professor marched back to the staff table, they had to turn away to hide their grins.

She was greeted with great enthusiasm as she sat down at the Gryffindor table, even receiving a few compliments and pats on the back. The excitement had even made her forget about how angry she was at Via. They were still meeting at nine tonight, after all. They'd just need to bring a few dust cloths. And somehow, dunking Snape's head in made her feel extremely happy.

- - - - -

Silvia had watched with suspicion and curiosity as her cousin walked over to the Slytherin table. What on earth was Aurelia thinking? But it all became clear as she drenched Severus's head in his porridge. She had to bite down hard on her lip to stop herself from laughing. She nearly fell out of her seat because of it. Noticing Snape's head emerge she wondered idly if anything could get the grease from his hair.

Slytherins watched as Aurelia was confronted by McGonagall much the way Silvia had been the previous day. Except this Colton had been looking for trouble because of the other. When McGonagall told them they'd have detention together she gave the scowl that was expected but was rejoicing inside. Apparently Aurelia hadn't lost her scheming streak.

After the visitors dissipated from their table the rest of the occupants went back to eating. Except for one Severus Snape, who looked completely livid. Not over his appearance, but his Potions book. Apparently some of the porridge had dripped down his long nose and straight onto the pages of the book. Now he was muttering under his breathe. Silvia was able to catch some of it, "dirty little Gryffindor…jealous of…brilliance…"

Silvia tried not to laugh again but a few chuckles escaped her and she did fall out of her chair this time. The Black sisters looked down on her curious and confused at her actions. Via simply covered it up with a believable cough she had perfected on her mother. She stood up and wiped her hands on her robes before resuming her seat thinking about how much brighter detention was going to be tonight.

- - - - -

Lily was furious with her. She hadn't seen the incident in the Great Hall, nor had she asked when it had happened, but clearly she didn't care. Aurelia had never seen her soft-spoken friend so irate. In fact, she had never seen Lily angry at all. It was almost scary to listen to the premature prefect chastise her for picking on Severus, but Lia had to stifle laughter twice because of some things Lily said about him. In the end, Lily stopped talking to her and ignored her the entire day.

At ten to nine, Aurelia wandered down the hallways, taking her time to get to the Transfiguration room. She hadn't seen Mr. Woldrum until she'd collided with his massive form.

"Hey, watch—wait a moment, what are you doing, roaming the corridors?" said Woldrum skeptically, his right eye twitching.

"I've got detention with Professor McGonagall," she stated brazenly.

Woldrum snorted and told her to be on her way then. She glared at him angrily and began walking down the hall again.

When she reached the classroom, McGonagall was already waiting for her. Silvia hadn't showed up yet.

"I guess you'll just have to start without her then," said McGonagall, unconcerned. "Take a rag—here—and there are several more on that desk. Well, don't just stand there. Clean!"

Silvia chose at that moment to come bursting into the classroom. She stopped just short of the door and re-arranged her clothes from her sprint. "Sorry I'm late Professor, I ran into Peeves along the way."

McGonagall gave her a stern look and pointed to the rags. Nodding, Silvia walked over and picked one up and went to the opposite side of the room from Aurelia, sending her glares whenever she could. Aurelia remained as stony-faced as her cousin.

The professor sat at her desk grading rolls of parchment from the fifth years as she watched the two cousins deliver nasty looks to one another. It was a wonder two children so young could have such abhorrence for one another, she thought. Shaking her head she went back to the parchment. That was until Mr. Woldrum ran in.

"Professor! I'm glad I caught you! Peeves is causing a ruckus in the library, of all places!" He spit out gasping for air.

"I've told Albus to talk to that poltergeist," McGonagall declared, quite annoyed. She looked back on the two glaring girls. "If I come back to find this room still unclean and you two fighting you will be getting an extra detention."

"Yes, Professor," both girls chorused.

Silvia, who was closest to the door, stuck her head out of the doorway and watched the Professor walk away down the corridor. "Finally! I thought she'd never leave."

"What are you talking about?" Aurelia put her rag down and walked near her cousin.

"You know how I said I ran into Peeves on the way here?" Silvia started with a mischievous smile. "Well, I might have suggested there would be quite a few students in the library, who wouldn't be suspecting anyone to pull any pranks on them _there_."

"Merlin, Via, is there anything you can't think up?"

"I never would've thought to dunk Severus! That was brilliant, Lia!"

"I was just lucky he was there, is all," she said modestly. "I've wanted to smash his face in since his comment about Remus during flying lessons. It wasn't difficult to do once I spotted the opportunity," she stated proudly, and then a couple seconds later realized just where she was and what she was doing and added sourly, "no thanks to you."

And in return she received laughter. Silvia had clearly decided against upholding a certain academic standard for herself and Aurelia doubted she'd get astounding grades for the sake of her parents.

"I know this is your first blemish on anything school-related—"

"Got that right."

"—but if your parents find out—"

"_When_ my parents find out…"

"—it won't be half as bad as it looks right now."

"Easy for you to say."

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that. Keep your spirits high and your dust rags dirty! Actually, skip the last one," said Silvia, grinning as she worked out something in her head. "With McGonagall being gone and all…do you mind if I skive off a bit to range up a few house elves? Why should we be punished for giving teachers lesson advice and releasing our anger, which just happened to be on another student?"

Lia sighed. "And if McGonagall comes back? What am I supposed to tell her?"

"You won't have to tell her a thing," Silvia said, already heading out the door. "Peeves isn't in any mind to let a teacher scare him away from his mischief-making. Be back in a flash!"

Silvia had returned twelve minutes later with three house elves. Aurelia handed her rag to one of them and jumped up on the counter, watching as Via slid into the chair behind Professor McGonagall's desk. They talked about their first weeks at Hogwarts and the new friends they'd made, each disagreeing with the other about those friends. They talked for what seemed like hours while those poor house elves worked their hands sore cleaning the classroom and just as seven thirty rolled around the corner, the girls could hear footsteps coming down the corridor. At once, Aurelia thanked the house elves and one by one they vanished from sight. She grabbed two dust rags, threw one at Silvia who instantly began wiping a plaque on the back wall. Lia twirled around to find McGonagall coming through the door.

"Good evening, professor," Aurelia said in a forced morose tone.

"I see you've made use of your time," she said somberly, walking up and down the aisles of student desks and running her fingers across the counters. "I assume fighting was kept at a minimum since I don't see any cut or bruises on either one of you."

"Of course, professor," Silvia replied with a barely noticeable smirk.

"Well, it looks clean enough."

"Oh, yes, professor," Via said dramatically. "I feel like I've worked as hard as a house elf dusting in here."

Aurelia had to turn her head slightly away from McGonagall before her wide grin was obvious.

"I assume you've learned your lesson now that you've experienced consequences for your actions," said McGonagall, picking up the rags and shoving them into a drawer in her desk, "and I expect better behavior in future…from both of you. You may return to your dormitories."

They were halfway down the hall when Silvia turned to her cousin and said, "If detention is that easy all the time, Hogwarts is going to be the best seven years of my life."

Silvia went back to the Slytherin Common Room after her first and definitely not last detention with Aurelia and McGonagall. She found Bellatrix, Narcissa, Lucius and the meatheads otherwise known as Crabbe and Goyle, Silvia had previously established that they were too stupid for her to remember their first names, waiting up for her.

"So how was your first detention?" Bella asked wickedly.

Silvia' had an indifferent look on her face. "Piece o' cake," The rest of the groups expressions changed to that of confusion and surprise.

"Piece of cake? It was with McGonagall, she never gives easy punishments," Lucius pointed out not believing her for obvious reasons.

"Oh, well the punishment was _meant_ to be hard, cleaning the bloody Transfiguration room. But it turns out a few house elves are a more effective cleaning force than two girls. Surprising huh, luv?" Silvia tilted her head slightly as if she was interested in something.

"How did you pull off house elves cleaning the room while McGonagall was in the room?" Narcissa was never one to miss the important details.

It was then that Severus Snape walked into the common room completely drenched. Apparently his bag, textbooks, parchment, ink, quills and himself had been hit with a few well aimed water balloons. He was muttering under his breath again, "Stupid poltergeist…when I get my hands…die again…painful."

_That worked out better than I thought,_ Silvia thought holding in a laugh. The others had heard Snape's ranted mutter also and it dawned on them.

"Peeves? He listened to you?" Bella seemed slightly amazed. Peeves only listened to the Bloody Baron and Dumbledore.

"It's more of an unspoken agreement really."

"Merlin, you are a Slytherin. She'd going to easily beat us all and it's only her first year!" Bella seemed excited by the prospect.

It was later that night that Silvia wrote a letter to Aurelia, reminding herself to send it in the morning. "I've got a better place to catch up on times then detention. Plus I promised we'd visit. Fire-top," Silvia muttered the last lines of her letter out loud. "That should be good."

- - - - -

The next morning, Aurelia woke up to a completely empty room and realized she'd slept in. Because of detention, she had needed to stay up later than usual to finish an essay on wormwood for Potions. She wasn't sure how late it was, but bustled out of bed, running around the dormitory, half-dressed, gathering her necessities for the day. As she swept through the common room and out of the portrait hole, she snagged her robes on a nail sticking out of the wall and heard a loud ripping sound as the threads split. She cursed at her bad luck, but continued on her way to the entrance hall.

Once she reached the giant double doors and saw that many students were still busily gorging themselves, she turned around and pointed her wand at the tear in her robes and whispered, "_Reparo_!" She watched as the threads sewed themselves together again.

Slightly out of breath, Aurelia sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Emily and a large fourth year whose name she hadn't caught. Emily asked her why she was so late, but Lia didn't have time to answer. She contemplated filling a bowl with grits before she snagged an apple from the middle of the table. Students were beginning to leave the Great Hall and she needed something quick to eat before class started. Professor Flitwick wouldn't allow food during lessons.

Just when she was about to head out herself, a hand pushed her back into her seat and Romey sat down beside her.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a note of recently obtained authority in his voice.

"To Charms, if you don't mind." Aurelia tried to stand again but her brother held her down firmly. "_Romey!_" she pleaded.

He had no intention, however, of releasing her before he got his point across. "First of all, I'd like to know why you haven't said hello to your big brother, Lia. It's been three weeks since I've talked to you and we're in the same House. Now tell me, does that make much sense to you?"

"Oh, _please_," she replied sourly. "Like you wanted to talk to your little sister around your friends."

"Never said that," Romey admitted. "And also, I was wondering why that bloody owl of yours is carrying notes from a certain Fire-top. As I recall, there's a—"

Before he could finish, Aurelia had flung her hands over her brother's mouth and muffled his voice so the rest of his sentence came out as "_fwin whine pween svithinan phoo_." The Gryffindors at the table all stopped to stare at the two siblings. Aurelia laughed nervously and turned around to face her brother.

"I'd rather not discuss that here," she said through clenched teeth. "I'll meet you in the entrance hall before lunch."

With that, she stood up, made for the doors and didn't look back. She could only hope that Romey wouldn't tell anyone. They had been stupid to use their childhood nicknames. But what had Romey been doing reading her mail anyway?

Charms passed quickly. They were still practicing the Levitation Charm. Throughout the entire period, all that went through Aurelia's ears was "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" and Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice as he was pelted with spare textbooks and quills. When the class had finally ended, she headed off to the dungeons where she handed in her wormwood essay to a beaming Professor Slughorn. As she pondered the reasons as to why he was so jubilant, he had began walking towards the door and greeted someone with a firm handshake.

"This is Romey Colton," Slughorn announced to the class. "He's the Gryffindor Quidditch Keeper, a member of the Slug Club and the symbol of a successful future." Romey was smiling proudly at the flattering speech. "Miss Colton," the professor addressed, turning to face Aurelia. "Your brother would like a word."

Lia's eyebrows shot up, but she slid off her chair and walked out the door, Romey trailing behind with his head held high.

"Skipping classes because you're curious about my pen pals, Romey?"

The question took him off guard and his pleasant smile turned upside down. "Thought you'd be happy to get out of a few minutes of Potions—"

"Well, you were wrong," Aurelia replied flatly.

"All right, fine, I'll get straight to the point." He looked down the hallway and glanced at the Potion's door to make sure it was closed, and then his eyes fled back to his sister. "Silvia may have been your best friend a few months ago, but now—she's a Slytherin. Do you know why Slytherins have such a retched reputation? They've got evil inside them. Every single one of them!"

"Even your precious Slughorn?" Lia retorted, a look of hatred crossing her face.

"Even Slughorn," Romey said indifferently. At this, Aurelia's eyes shifted to her feet. "She may seem like the Silvia she always was. Or she could have changed over the time she's spent at Hogwarts and hang around people she ought not to hang around with. She is a first year and they're usually ignored, but tell me, who are Silvia's new friends? Does she have any housemates that are particularly closer to her?"

Aurelia had gone pale. She knew the reputations of Silvia's closest Slytherin buddies and there was not a chance that a fifth year didn't know them as well. Lia held her breath and then said, "Bellatrix and Narcissa Black."

Romey heaved one hot, tempered breath and stood in silence. Aurelia wasn't sure if he'd heard, so she started to say it again.

"I heard you the first time!" Romey's voice was cold. "Listen to me, Lia. If I ever catch you with Silvia or writing letters to _Fire-top_ again, you will regret it. Do I make myself clear?"

"You can't expect me to break up an eleven-year-old friendship just because you say to!"

"Yes, I do expect it! Silvia is a horrible influence on you now! She's already gotten a detention, which I heard from a couple third years, she dragged you along with her!" Aurelia opened her mouth but Romey continued with his lecture. "I won't have my sister hanging around with Slytherins! Maybe you don't know this, but Blacks are the worst sort of people to befriend—"

"You can't say that, because I'm friends with a Black!" said Aurelia fiercely.

"WHAT?" Romey realized how loud he had become and lowered his voice to a seething whisper. "I can't believe you would—after what everyone says about them…"

"He's in Gryffindor," said Lia, her eyes narrow.

"Oh." Romey's tone had suddenly warmed up. "Well, that's all right then."

"Really? 'All Blacks are dangerous, they're all evil! Except if they're a Gryffindor! Then all's well'," said Aurelia mockingly.

"The whole Black family has been in Slytherin for centuries. There's only a select few who've been in anything else. How was I supposed to know which House he'd been sorted into?"

"How about," Lia began, icily, "you judge someone by their character and not by their House."

"Silvia's already showed me her character. I know who she is and I've tolerated it this long. I forbid you from seeing her again."

"Or you'll—"

She was interrupted by Slughorn, who had opened the door to the Potion's classroom and told Romey she was need inside.

"Promise me," he said, grabbing her upper arm tightly and crouching down to meet her eye to eye. "And it's not a negotiation."

Aurelia almost snarled in her brother's face before she was aware it wouldn't help her situation at all. She looked right into Romey's eyes and said, "I promise."

This seemed to satisfy him, because he released her arm and straighten himself to his full height, which was quite impressive for a fifth year. He gave her one last cautionary glance and headed off down the hall. Aurelia turned on her heels, rubbing her arm gingerly and walked towards her classroom.

Overall, she was feeling rather rebellious about what had just happened. Her promise meant nothing to her. She had no intention whatsoever of standing by it.

- - - - - - - -

**Author's Note: **So anyone want to hurt Aurelia's brother yet? Next chapter...present tense. Things happen. Boom! Reviews are like candy to us! Feed our fiction!


	4. Reasons and Responsibilities

_Present_

**CHAPTER IV**

_ Reasons and Responsibilities_

The rain began again. It fell heavily, easily, with no meaning or intention but the fulfillment of its own natures, which was to fall and fall. It is so simple, so effortless and yet has the power to hurt as many people as it saves. But here—here the rain is everything. It washes away the sins of the past and brings hope to the future. And into each life some rain must fall. There is no telling when it will fall, but it would at one point or another. The rain had not fallen on Silvia's life yet, and she feared it never would. For her sins ran too deep and were buried within her soul. They were a part of her and she them.

Rain, however, was not lost entirely to Silvia Colton; she had a link—a link through Aurelia. They were more opposite then alike, any fool could see that much, but they got on like the best of friends. It was a mystery to them and the world. Aurelia didn't know how Silvia spent her nights, at least the ones she wasn't at home for.

Silvia glanced down at her up rolled sleeve and pulled it snuggly over her left forearm. It was a constant reminder. _The Dark Mark. His mark. A Death Eater_. What nearly everyone from Slytherin had become. She was one of them. She had been highly recommended by her old friends Bellatrix and Lucius. Narcissa had chosen to support from the side of her husband, but Cissy had never been as wicked as her sister. Silvia was like that, too; the little girl who craved mischief had been given an outlet.

Regrets were always present, but she attributed them to her cousin's influence, yet she couldn't stop seeing Aurelia. Lia was her link—her link to the rain and salvation. A road she would likely never take but needed to have there, just in case.

Rough hands covered her eyes and stopped her musing, turning a somber mood to a brilliant one. "Guess who?" a delicious voice whispered in her ear.

"Santa?" Silvia asked, smirking.

The hands slid to her shoulders and down her arms as the owner left a kiss on her cheek. "I knew you'd get it."

"But aren't you going to ask if I've been naughty or nice?" Silvia had turned in her seat to look up in her supposed Santa's eyes. _Her Santa_, she mused. The man in front of her could be considered a childhood friend as she'd known him since they were eleven, however, they had been more then friends for quite some time. Most men would either drive Silvia up the wall or out the door, except Evan had something that made her stick around. She hadn't figured out what it was yet either.

"I already know, I was present last night," Evan Rosier looked down on his gray-eyed girl. She was gorgeous as women of her age were, but she had a personality that most people would call frivolous. She had a mischievous side that anyone could see and an innocence that was hidden, but not in the usual sense of the term. It was more a purity from her childhood that had stayed with her, though it had been repressed. It was easily hidden underneath her carefree exterior. Although she lived a loose lifestyle, she only had one man in her life and that was him.

"Maybe we should have a repeat performance, luv," Silvia suggested as she moved to stand up.

Evan smiled, "Have I ever told you I love the way you think."

"Often," Silvia murmured as she leaned in to kiss him. It was then that simultaneously the tattoo on their left forearms turned from crimson to a literally burning black.

"He's got bad timing," Silvia muttered under her breath.

Evan seemed to have heard and grasped her hand, kissing her navy hair before apparating the both of them to the meeting.

- - - - -

Aurelia stepped into the square and surveyed her surroundings. She never felt comfortable in rich neighborhoods or small towns…or kitchens, but that was for an entirely different reason. But this place was quiet and peaceful. The weather had cleared of any sign of the rain last night and the grass that had recently looked a bit famished was now a brilliant shade of green.

The only real problem she had encountered since her return to London had been trying to locate her father's current residence. He had moved back to England after a year in France without a single notice to his daughter. The effort of finding him wasn't much, for her cousin kept in touch. He was the relative who knew anything relevant or irrelevant going on in the Colton household. Even if no one had told him anything, Jonathan would know it.

The path to the front door was adorned with dead flowers on either side. With all the money her father had, Gavin could have hired a gardener or two. The yard in front of the house seemed void of life and it was pitifully barren compared to the others in the square.

As she got closer, she heard a familiar tune playing in a near-by window and began to hum along, for the lyrics had escaped her memory.

The door opened promptly after just two knocks, but the man inside was not her father.

"Sirius? What are you—" she began, but was interrupted before she could ask.

"Come inside. Quickly." It was all he managed to say before gripping her arm and pulling her through the door. Aurelia's foot caught on the doorframe but Sirius grabbed her around the waist to keep her balanced. After he had shut the door and closed all the windows, he beckoned her to follow him down a narrow hallway. Still stricken with shock, she journeyed after him.

The hall led to a small drawing room where Sirius entered. He told her to sit down and wait until he returned. Aurelia tried to ask questions, but he only discarded them. Closing the door silently behind him, he exited the room. Lia stood beside a rather large chifforobe that she assumed hadn't yet been moved to a guestroom.

It was so like Sirius to keep her in the dark until the last possible minute. Apparently, he was doing this in secret. Hence the hushed voices and shut windows.

She looked around the room for a few moments. There was not much to take in. The room was small and inhabited only by a couch, an armchair, a desk and the spare chifforobe. There were no windows to shut in here, but a small oil lamp was sitting on the desk.

The door creaked open once again and Sirius stepped inside.

"All right, I've had it with your little charade, Sirius," said Lia, her voice taking on a perplexed tone. "Now tell me what's going on. Why are you here…and where is my father? How did you know I was coming here? WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Sirius dropped a piece of paper on the desk and moved closer. "Since we're not wasting any time catching up," he said, grinning. "It's official business."

"Official business? From whom?" She was still aghast at his presence and, not that it had been unpleasant, it was far from expected.

"I'm here to recruit you," he said flatly.

"Recruit me? Into what?" Aurelia asked suspiciously.

"Lia, I thought I told you to sit down," said Sirius.

Aurelia flung her hands up in the air, then placed them on top of her head and started pacing.

She knew what this was. The Order wanted her to join. Well, what good would she be to them? They had all the brains and talent they could ever want. She was nothing special. It was not logical, but something told her they had been keeping eyes on her for some time. Ever since she set out for Italy, perhaps. She knew she had been followed from King's Cross until at least Paris. But, the questions would not leave her mind. Why on earth would they need _her_? And Black was sent to recruit her—of all the members they had? Didn't he have some place to be? How did he get into the house? Where was her father?

"Mr. Colton is out of town at the moment," Sirius suddenly answered her unspoken question, his eyes following her motions across the room patiently. "And it wasn't too difficult to break and enter. Well, really it was just entering. The back door was open."

He smiled as he saw the astounded expression on Aurelia's face.

"You were muttering," he said.

Lia glanced back at the desk to the crumpled piece of paper that lay beside the lamp. Sirius followed her gaze. "Admission to the Order's headquarters," he explained, exploring her face. "If you were to join."

After a moment of thinking over her position, she still couldn't figure out a sound reason as to why the Order of the Phoenix would need her. It was not as if she had been extraordinary at any subject. She was fair at spells, which came naturally to her, but that was to be expected, being a pure-blood who had lived around them her entire life. Potions and Herbology had not been her specialties, that was certain. Her current occupation did not give her any bonds with dark witches or wizards and a mind for troublemaking had not gotten James and Sirius into the Order.

"So tell me, Sirius, and be honest: Why is the Order so eager for my membership?"

Sirius stepped forward a couple of feet to stand in front of her and lifted his hand to her face; he brushed his fingers against her cheek as Aurelia closed her eyes. Abruptly, he drew his hand away and stepped back, her eyes fluttering open.

"Honestly, I have no idea. You don't have any useful ties, no particularly unique talent. You're not even that smart," he added faithlessly. He paused for a second, then looked to the back end of the house. The playful smile he wore was pleasant enough. "But don't worry, Lia. Can't blame yourself for that one. Must be in your blood."

Aurelia snorted. She took one step towards him and mocked a disdainful tone. "What am I good for then?"

Finally, the mischievous grins they had both been hiding were uncovered. Sirius moved forward, grabbing Aurelia's shoulders as he got to her and Aurelia, who had been expecting it, braced herself with feet planted firmly on the floor. They locked lips, closed their eyes and their tongues roamed each other's faintly familiar mouths. Sirius found the zipper of her fleece and as he pulled it down, Lia wrapped her arms around his neck. Opening his partner's jacket, Sirius moved his hands down her curved body. He let them linger around her waist, his fingers tickling her sides, and he could feel her lips form a smile around his own.

After only seconds of this, they were completely unaware of their surroundings. The flame in the oil lamp was flickering, threatening to extinguish itself. The world was spinning slowly around them and Aurelia's knees almost buckled.

Then the world came to an abrupt halt as she tasted blood. Before she realized what she had done, she felt Sirius' hands drop from her waist. Lia opened her eyes and grimaced as she watched Sirius lick his lips, discovering bite marks. He grinned.

"Apparently, I'm not the only animal here," he teased before wrapping his hands around her once more and lowering his head to kiss her neck as if nothing had happened. She cautiously passed her fingers over his back, afraid she might scratch him with her nails. Sirius moved his head up her neck and Lia yelped in pain. As he pulled away from her, she held her hand up to her left ear.

In his defense he stated, "You tasted my blood. I just wondered if yours was any different."

Aurelia scowled, then asked, "And was it?"

"I must admit, yours was a bit sweeter, but lacking in wit."

She pushed a leering Sirius aside and strolled out of the drawing room. Pulling her jacket together, she concealed her smirk impressively.

His footsteps she could hear behind her but did not look back. She stopped as she reached the front door and felt Sirius' breath against her ear. He whispered, "You always were an excellent kisser."

Aurelia spun around on her heels to glare at him. "The last time you snogged me we were in a broom closet at _Hogwarts_," she reminded him.

"And I will never forget it."

"As I recall," said Lia, stepping several inches forward so their eyelashes touches and she lingered over his lips, "today was something to be added to your Forget-Me-Not Plaque."

"I still haven't gotten an answer," he said dissuasively , their lips brushing for mere seconds, their breath warming each other's faces.

Lia feinted a kiss and pulled away from him quickly. "Will you be at these meetings?"

A little disappointed, Sirius replied, "Of course I…" and finished with a satisfied grin.

"All right," said Aurelia, turning the knob and sliding soundlessly out the door. "I'll join."

- - - - - - - -

**A/N: **In the first paragraph of this chapter we used three quotes from various sources. Here's the credit to those that said them.

_Here the rain is everything._ by Marjory S. Douglas

_The rain began again. It fell heavily, easily, with no meaning or intention by the fulfillment of its own natures, which was to fall and fall._ By Helen Garner

_Into each life some rain must fall._ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Anyone, apparently we aren't supposed to be feeding our addiction because no one is reviewing. It doesn't have to be a good review, you can flame away and we'll still love you for reviewing. Just say something! Anything! Smuchk! Ignore that last part, if you review we will thank you. If not reading it enough. Thanks.


	5. Fatal Cartel

_Past_

**CHAPTER V  
**

_Fatal Cartel  
_

When first year students arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry they were met by the booming voice of the groundskeeper, Hagrid. From there they would congregate and climb into the awaiting boats, which carried them across the lake. It was there that they got a first glance at the legendary castle that inhabited Hogwarts students. Those returning for years beyond their first would be taken to the castle by horse-less carriages. For most, the experience was forgettable, but for those that chanced to watch another life extinguish before them, it was daunting. Instead of seeing a carriage being magically pulled, they gazed upon huge, skeletal winged horses. They were black as night with white eyes that shined eerily from their dragonish faces. Often seen as a bad omen for their fierce appearance, or lack thereof, they were highly clever and magical creatures. The carriages at Hogwarts were pulled by Thestrals. 

But to most people it was attributed to either a good feat of magic or invisible horses. They didn't know the truth unless they had seen death, and that was something one did not tend to share openly.

Upon arriving in the Great Hall, the new students were sorted into the four houses. One newcomer to Slytherin had caught Silvia's attention: Tidra Midnight. The eleven-year-old had azure eyes with pale skin exaggerated by the color of her ebony hair. She seemed to have a disobedient side and that was likely to be what made her stand out from the others to the Slytherin Colton.

Hogwarts fell into its usual routine after the first few weeks. Classes had gone much the same as they had the previous year, although History of Magic seemed to be a particular bore. Considering that it was taught by a ghost, it never had flair. New spells and charms were learned along with more difficult potions and more homework was assigned.

The green leaves on the trees outside began to fade in color to red and yellow and eventually fell to the frostbitten ground. After only days of this transformation, blankets of snow covered that ground and excited children shattered its perfect design by stepping into the soft sea of white.

The Heads of House were busy counting the students that would be staying at Hogwarts over the winter holidays. This year it seemed that a large number would remain behind because of events at the Ministry.

Dumbledore had received an announcement that their previous Minister of Magic had retired and Millicent Bagnold was taking up the position. Due to this change, the new Minister had requested that her employees stay over the holidays to help adjust to the new administration. Her reasoning was that Christmas was one of the biggest events in the wizarding community and with the changes, more accidents would accrue.

It was after dinner that night that Dumbledore stood up to address the students and explain what was happening at the Ministry. "Those students with parents who work at the Ministry of Magic will be staying over the holidays. If you do not know if you are considered or not, letters will be delivered in the morning post to clear any uncertainties up. Also, to celebrate the appointment of Mrs. Bagnold and to increase relations between the four houses, the students who will be remaining at Hogwarts will be sleeping in the Great Hall on Christmas Eve. That is all for now. I suggest you all begin packing you things."

Soon, students were heading off to Hogsmeade to journey home to their families. The downhearted students remaining at Hogwarts watched them leave, knowing that their friends had the better deal. The days that followed passed painfully slow.

The days on the calendars finally read December twenty-fourth. Those students still at Hogwarts had been amassed in the Great Hall. The teachers had decided that they would gather more sleep in their own rooms and left the four rivaling houses to themselves. The students bedded down in the Great Hall with particularly squishy purple sleeping bags.

"Merlin, I'm bored," Silvia declared, falling back onto her sleeping bag.

"Join the club, Via," Evan Rosier muttered from beside her, having chosen to stay over the break.

There was a definite segregation in the hall. Slytherins had taken up the farthest left corner while Hufflepuffs occupied the stairs to the staff table. Ravenclaw was situated across the doorway and Gryffindors spread out somewhere in-between.

Personally, Silvia would have preferred to be next to Aurelia. They could have thought of something to do instead of staring at the ceiling, which was cloudy and starless. She peered across the hall at the Gryffindor group and spotted her cousin having a detached conversation with Vouldora and Derkson, looking as though she would rather be anywhere else. And then, inspiration struck. Silvia stood up gracefully in the middle of the group of Slytherins, ignoring her comrades' curious questions. At the opposite end of the hall, Aurelia caught on and stood up as well.

Everyone looked up as she said, "Silvia, I challenge you to a game of truth or dare!"

"Aurelia, you can't play truth or dare without two people!" Silvia shouted back. "Besides, a Gryff couldn't possibly compete with a Slytherin. Doubt even a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff could," she added slyly.

"Oy! That's a load of puck that is," a Ravenclaw objected.

"Prove me wrong then," Via taunted.

"All right. We're in," proclaimed the Ravenclaw. "Not getting beat out by some Slytherin, that's for sure."

"Oh!" Silvia put her hand over her heart dramatically. "You wound me! Come on guys, lets show them what we're made of." She beckoned to the other Slytherins.

Aurelia turned to her fellow Gryffindors. "Well, that bravery we're known for, s'got to come in handy some time."

"So, we're being left out?" the Hufflepuffs asked.

"Unless you don't think you can handle it," a Slytherin teased.

So all four groups of students picked up their sleeping bags and migrated to the middle of the hall, creating a sea of purple. If Dumbledore wanted house unity, this was probably the best he was going to get.

Silvia rubbed her hands together with a smirk on her face, saying, "All right then, who's going first?"

The loudmouth Ravenclaw, whose name was Daniel Sedersin, called out before anyone else could contemplate raising their hand. Silvia's smirk broadened.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he said evenly, now kneeling on top of his sleeping bag. The Ravenclaws around him were shooting nervous glances at the Slytherin Colton.

"I dare you to give a house-elf clothes."

Some Gryffindors and Slytherins suppressed their laughter while the confusion in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw was evident.

"There aren't any house-elves here," said Sedersin, puzzled.

"'Course there are!" said Emit Jorkins, a second year Hufflepuff.

"Who do you think cooks all the meals?" asked Sirius with a one eyebrow raised. "Hagrid?"

The whole hall erupted in laughter and James shoved Sirius in the shoulder good-naturedly.

"The house-elves are in the kitchens," said Rosier, once the giggles had died down. "You're in Ravenclaw. You're supposed to be the smart ones."

This comment caused another outburst accompanied by some angry scowls from the Ravenclaw end.

"But," said Sedersin, glancing around at his eager classmates, "I don't know where the kitchens are."

"I'll show you," said six different voices simultaneously. Aurelia looked behind her to see who else had said it and spotted James, Sirius, Remus and Peter with wide grins on their faces. She looked to Silvia, who was doing the same. Lia smiled and turned back to Sedersin, saying, "We'll show you."

Once Sedersin had tried to offer a spare sock to twelve different house-elves, all of them screeching and running away in a frenzy, knocking pots and pans to the floor in their haste, he finally gave up. His guides, all snickering and picking pieces of toffee out of their teeth, led him back up to the Great Hall. The Ravenclaws were shamed.

A Hufflepuff girl, Jillian Carne, was next to choose 'dare'. James Potter took out his wand and said, "_Cambiare!_" One section of the girl's hair turned from brown to a violent shade of red and the other side morphed into a dark yellow.

"I dare you to keep your hair like that for a week," said James, smirking at Carne's reaction to her new appearance. A few people around her gasped, but most were roaring with laughter. "Just tell anyone who asks that it was a Christmas present from your pals in Gryffindor."

The next volunteer came from Slytherin as a 'truth'. A Ravenclaw, Michael Nortin, asked, "So, what do Slytherins _do_ in your Common Room?"

"Just homework," announced the Slytherin to a disappointed crowd.

"_Just_ homework?" Aurelia whispered skeptically to Silvia.

"In the _Common Room_," she replied.

Their smiles vanished when they heard Avery's voice. "I dare the Colton cousins to go into the Forbidden Forest!"

Aurelia and Silvia both raised their eyebrows and looked at each other. There was a hush over the hall until Avery's explanation. "You started the game but neither of you've gone. I wanna find out which Colton's got more guts."

The girls heard Sirius and James snort behind them but no one else seemed to have noticed. Every person in the Great Hall was now staring at the girls intently, awaiting their response.

"Sure," Silvia proclaimed. "I'll do it."

Aurelia hesitated for a moment, then grinned because half of the eyes of her crowd were wide open in anticipation. "Yeah, sure," she said finally. "But how are you going to know we didn't just double-back? And how can I trust this Slytherin not to leave me out there?"

"Me and Evan will come out and make sure you don't," said Avery with a malicious grin which, no doubt, was meant to be intimidating.

"We'll go, too. " James and Sirius stood up.

"Can I go?" whispered a little Slytherin first year to Silvia.

"No, you'd better stay put, Tidra. We'll be back before you know it."

The girl pouted as she watched the six students leave the Great Hall. The others began going around in circles, asking questions for numerous 'truths'.

Silvia headed the group with Aurelia at her side, the four boys falling back a bit. The cousins were conversing silently until Avery asked Silvia why she was batting her eyes so much. They had to separate for a short period of time to gather cloaks and such before going out into the freezing cold and snow covered grounds.

They marched through the entrance hall and out the front doors. Woldrum had not been doing his best caretaking that year, for it regularly slipped his mind to patrol hallways and lock doors. They were careful when sneaking past Hagrid's hut to keep silent. The group reached the edge of the forest and Silvia was about the jump right in when Aurelia turned around and asked, "How far do you expect us to go in?"

Smiling maliciously, as if he were expecting the question, asked, "Why Colton? Afraid of meeting a monster if you go too far?"

"No," said Lia simply, "but if you expect me to keep going until I get scared…I'd rather sit this one out. I want to be here for the Christmas feast."

Avery appeared absolutely baffled, Evan gave her a funny look and grins appeared on James' and Sirius' faces. Aurelia was pleased with the effect she had on them, but when she looked over at her cousin she realized Silvia was still itching for a 'ready, set, go!' signal.

"Fine," said Avery testily. "Fifteen minutes. I'll give Via my watch."

"Excellent. We'll get started then." The watch was barely in her hand before Silvia leapt into the trees and dug through the brush.

"Spirit," said Aurelia in a mock tone of fondness, shaking her head. She pushed aside a tree branch and jumped in after her over-excited cousin. They met up with each other once they knew the boys wouldn't be able to hear or see them. As soon as they saw each other, they broke out in silent giggles.

"Did you see their faces when we said we'd go?" Silvia whispered, still trying to control her laughter.

"You'd have thought we'd just signed our life away," Aurelia answered.

"Yeah. I mean, do they really think we'll meet some hideous monster fifteen minutes in?"

"No, but perhaps they didn't take _us_ into account."

The two girls stood frozen in their tracks when that cold, unfamiliar voice leapt out at them from the darkness. Through the sparse patches of light the crescent moon was offering, Aurelia could see a horse-shaped body and a human torso, as if a man had replaced a chestnut's neck and head. The sight was only slightly shocking, for both girls knew of centaurs, but they had never seen a real one before.

"What do you mean," Aurelia said, almost inaudibly, "_us_?"

The second she'd said this, seven more centaurs had appeared on the edges of the dimly lit clearing. Their sudden arrival startled the Colton girls so that they jumped.

"Where did you—" Silvia began, but was interrupted by one of the centaurs to their right, saying, "Do not burden us with your petty questions. The ways of the centaurs are too complex for human understanding."

Aurelia shot the centaur, a white-blonde palomino, a sharp glare and his tranquil expression turned stern.

"Dormotin," the leader said warningly. He then directed his eyes to the girls. "What are a couple of foals doing in the forest at this late hour? You may become easy prey for some of the creatures that roam these parts of the wood."

"We're just passing through," said Silvia firmly, giving the head centaur a look of defiance.

"You are trespassing," said the white-blonde centaur. "Olivon, these foals come from the school. Many young journey through the woods with Hagrid, but these two come alone. They must be punished."

"The forest isn't only yours, now, is it?" asked Aurelia suddenly, still glaring.

"It is our home," the leader, Olivon, replied softly. "It is not yours. Many things can harm you in this forest, but we"—he cast a firm glance at Dormotin—"will not. To harm a foal is a horrible crime. We will advise you to turn back and return to your school, for we will bring no aid if creatures of the wood come upon you. You have been warned."

With those words, the centaurs surrounding them disappeared into the shade of the trees. Silvia looked left. Aurelia looked right. They stared at each other for an entire minute before gazing straight ahead and continuing to tread through the forest.

"What do you want to bet something comes at us now, Lia?" Silvia asked with a hopeful gleam in her eye. It was obvious of her intent to look for trouble.

"Don't talk like that," Aurelia scolded lightly, "or something _will_ come."

Silvia scoffed, "What's wrong with that?"

Aurelia just stalked further off into the forest. Silvia ran after Aurelia and tried to make her stop. Once she saw that it wasn't working, she lunged forward, effectively tackling her cousin to the ground. "All right, Gryff, I don't need anything to come out of the darkness. We can just keep walking peacefully through the Forest of Horrid Boredom."

Lia glared at Silvia before her eyes softened. "The forest is a tad boring, isn't it? I expected more besides some centaurs."

"I'm fed up with walking. Let's just sit here until the time runs out. We only have a few minutes left." Silvia glanced down at the illuminated watch on her wrist, a timer quietly ticking away the seconds.

The Colton cousins sat there for the remainder of the dare, talking like the twelve-year-olds they truly were. Once a small beeping emitted from the watch to signal the end of their time, they stood up and traipsed back to the others.

"I think we're going to disappoint them," Aurelia observed.

"Agreed. Probably thought we'd come out screaming like girls."

At this comment both cousins started to laugh.

They had almost reached the edge of the forest when they could see the group of boys waiting for their return. Aurelia was ready to head straight for them when Silvia caught her sleeve and pulled her back.

"Lia, how about we play a teeny, tiny prank on the boys?" Silvia noticed her cousin's disbelieving look and quickly added, "For not believing we could do it."

Aurelia chewed on her lip in thought. "Well, all right, but nothing harmful."

"Since when have I done something harmful?" Silvia asked innocently. Aurelia snorted in response. "Besides, putting everlasting icicles on the stairways isn't _really_ harmful…to those who watch where they step," Silvia stated in a knowledgeable manner.

"Everyone watches their feet now—and it's _because_ of you," Aurelia exclaimed.

"You see, now it can't happen again! It was helpful, not harmful."

"Right," Aurelia muttered as she felt a fleck of snow fall on her nose. She flicked it away impatiently and then her eyes lit up as she turned to Silvia. "You know, it _is_ snowing outside…"

Silvia pounced on Aurelia, enveloping her in a hug. "Lia, I knew you were still in there somewhere."

The two girls sat down, planning what they would do to the four boys in revenge.

- - - - -

Evan, Sirius, James and Avery were all standing, rather nervously, a couple of feet from the forest's edge, waiting for the cousins to arrive. They knew from James' watch that the required fifteen minutes had passed and the dare was fulfilled. The fact that neither girl was out yet was making them both anxious and guilty.

"Do you think they met something?" Evan's face showed concern.

"They would have screamed," James pointed out.

"Unless they were eaten whole," Sirius deadpanned.

James socked him in the arm as the two Slytherin boys glared at him. "Not funny, mate."

"Maybe they just—" Avery began when they spotted a flustered looking Aurelia running out of the forest. The boys ran to her side to see what was wrong. Aurelia's face was tear-streaked and she looked terrified.

"Lia, what's wrong?" Sirius asked, worried. No one had ever seen her cry before.

"It…it took—it took Silvia. I don't know what happened," Aurelia wailed, burying her head in her hands. The boys looked at each other nervously, not noticing Aurelia watching them through her fingers.

"Aurelia, something took Silvia? Are you sure?"

"Yes," she answered, her voice muffled.

It was then that they all heard a rustling of leaves coming from a section of the forest nearest them and several twigs snapped loudly. Everyone glanced in that direction, hearing Aurelia breathe, "Oh no…it followed me!"

The boys barely had time to comment before something hit Avery hard in the back of the head, causing him to fall forward on his face. The others looked at him questioningly until they, too, were hit. Projectiles came from every direction, making the boys bury themselves in the snow with hands over heads. It was a full five minutes before the attack halted and the boys could hear laughter from their huddled positions. When they looked up, they saw the two cousins on the snowy ground, shaking with laughter.

"You should have seen—"

"—your faces!"

The boys quickly registered the crumpled remains of snowballs surrounding them and the fact that both girls had their wands in hand. It had been a prank. A very simple, very effective prank.

"Maybe you shouldn't doubt us _girls_," Silvia declared once she and Aurelia had finally stopped laughing. She threw Avery his watch back and walked back to the castle with her cousin. The two of them were still laughing silently when they approached the doors to Hogwarts. Apparently, they could collaborate civilly when they were after another person. Needless to say, the Colton cousins' daring was never questioned in the same manner again.

- - - - - - - -

**Author's Note:** Still no reviews. I'm extremely depressed. Please? _Please...? _You can just tell us if you like the story or not. That's all you have to say, but_ please_ review!


	6. Orders, Simply Put

_Present_

**CHAPTER VI**

_Orders, Simply Put_

Aurelia reached into her Muggle jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of crumpled paper. She read the statement written, memorized it and pulled out her wand, lighting the paper on fire. She tossed it to the ground and stamped out the flames with her boot. She looked across the street next to a lot that had, several seconds before, been bare. A three-story house stood before her now. The windows were blackened with what looked to be soot, the rotted railing on the porch was about to fall to the ground and Lia counted fifteen tiles on the roof needing to be replaced.

"This looks promising," she said finally, walking up the steps of the porch and knocking on the door three times. While she waited to be ushered inside, she gazed down at her feet and spotted the enchanted doormat. The letters danced joyfully around each other and it sparkled as if drenched in sapphires. It read:

_WELCOME!  
All who enter know full well,  
That every mission sent is hell.  
So come on in, we won't bite—  
Except Remus on certain nights._

She smirked. "Also very promising."

The door opened and light spilled across the shifty planks of wood under her feet. Lia looked up to see Severus Snape in the doorway. Her eyes widened.

"Why, hello there Severus," she said, shocked to see the Dark Arts addict in the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Did they actually expect her to believe he was a member?

"Colton," Snape greeted coldly. "Dumbledore requests I relay this message: You're late."

Aurelia smiled and stepped onto the threshold. "You're all grown up! They've promoted you to messenger-boy. That's cute."

Her earlier years with Severus had been detrimental to their likeness of one another. There were endless reasons as to why he would forevermore despise Lia. She would never complain, either—as if she'd need _his_ aid in future. This fascination he possessed for all things pertaining to dark magic unnerved her to no end. Surely he, of all people, was bound to become a follower of Voldemort.

"If you were not expected inside, I would kill you where you're standing," Snape seethed so that it came out as a whisper.

"Testy, Severus?" Aurelia asked. Snape glared. "Guess it's lucky I've got friends, isn't it? Oh, I guess you wouldn't know."

He walked out the door and slammed it shut behind him. _Just as cheery as ever_, she thought.

She glanced around the inside of the ramshackle mansion. There was a stairway climbing up the wall to her left, two or three mirrors along the hallway to her right, one of which faint shadows could be seen hovering inside, and in front of her on an iron-wrought side table was a framed black and white photograph. It was at Hogwarts; ten seventh-year students stood at the foot of the steps, shifting their feet impatiently and smiling at her. They all had prefect badges on their robes and a trophy in their hand, but one student in particular caught Aurelia's attention. He was a handsome young man with dark hair and dark gray eyes. He was holding his "Services to the School" trophy triumphantly with a proud grin. The students to his left and right looked rather intimidated.

Aurelia felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around to come face to face with James Potter. She stood shock-still until she wrapped her arms around him to give him a tight hug.

"It's been so long, James!" she said when they stood back to gaze at each other.

"Lia, you look…fantastic," he replied, smiling brightly. "It's great to see you, but we haven't got time to catch up now. You'd better follow me. The meeting's started."

James led her down the long hallway, passing by the mirrors, not sparing one a single glance. Aurelia seemed to recall the distant memories of James messing up his hair every time he got the chance and smiled. He had certainly changed in two short years.

The hall led into a small kitchen, in which Aurelia stepped through quickly, and on the other side, James opened a red door and gestured for her to enter before him. She didn't quite know what the room looked like, for her immediate attention was on Dumbledore, standing at one end, seemingly addressing a group of about twenty people, all of whom were focused on him intently. She felt much too intrusive once every person in the room looked toward the door where she was standing. She smiled nervously until James gave her a little push from behind. She stepped into the room and everyone returned their eyes to Dumbledore.

Then a wave of annoyance rolled inside her as Dumbledore announced, "This is Aurelia Colton. She is our newest member and this is her first meeting. Please greet her if you have the chance and answer any questions she asks. She is no more an observer than you."

Lia followed James to the back of the group and felt her stomach do a flip as she spotted an old friend, but quickly looked away before Lily caught her eye. She needed to focus on Dumbledore's speech because she badly wanted to know what she was doing in the Order.

"As many of you are aware, the members not present at this meeting are either recruiting or completing an appointed mission. If anyone has something to add concerning these missions, please step forward." When no one obliged, Dumbledore moved on. "Severus has just informed me that there was a Death Eater meeting quite recently. Voldemort"—at the name, many people flinched—"has refrained from telling his servants his exact intentions, however, it is likely that he plans to attack one of us."

There was a hushed panic that spread around the room, but soon silence ensued and Dumbledore began again, expression grim.

"Every Order member is now in danger—some more than others." He flicked his wand and a piece of chalk began writing on the wall behind him while he spoke. Aurelia could barely see what the chalk was writing, but as she stood on her tiptoes, she managed to read 'Caradoc Dearborn, Benji Fenwick, Fabian Prewett, Peter Pettigrew' before her field of vision was obscured. "I have sent Fawkes to warn them of the danger, but we all must be cautious. When you leave this house, you must all be weary of the places you go and the company you keep. We cannot know whom Voldemort will target. We can only hope that we are all prepared when he is ready to strike."

The meeting went on for an hour more with members discussing their ideas and experiences and spies giving reports. There were very few captivating details about Death Eaters and their whereabouts, which was what interested Aurelia most.

Once the meeting was adjourned, she was bombarded with people who greeted her kindly and gave her hand a firm shake. She realized just why she hated being mentioned to groups. She relaxed when the crowd finally dispersed to leave four people in the middle of the room, staring avidly in her direction.

Lily was the first to step forward and before she could even open her mouth, Aurelia took her in a deep embrace. She had noticed earlier that Lily was pregnant and made certain any physical contact would not give her pain. When they separated, she spotted Lily's brilliant smile and took hold of her again.

"I've missed you so much, Lia!" she whispered, almost out of breath.

Aurelia let go and said, "Lily, you're absolutely glowing!"

All the women could do was smile. Then Aurelia turned to Remus and almost jumped on him. After a small bear hug, she kissed him on the cheek.

"Remus," she said fondly. "Just as handsome as ever."

"You should have seen me a few weeks ago," he replied with a smirk. "Although, I think its better that you didn't."

When she turned to find James and Sirius eyeing her, she let out a sigh. "You've already gotten yours."

"Another one?" James asked.

"We just can't get enough," Sirius said, grinning.

Lia rolled her eyes and stepped into James' outstretched arms. When she turned to Sirius, he grabbed her around the waist with both arms and lifted her off the ground. Once her feet were on top of something solid again, she gazed fixedly at Lily's stomach.

"Now, don't do that! You'll make me think I look fat," Lily teased.

Aurelia shifted her gaze to each of her friends' faces. "Catch me up! What's happened? I haven't heard a thing since your wedding—well, nearly."

The five friends spent more than two hours in that same room, telling stories and interrupting with questions. They laughed so often it was a wonder Lia could still find her voice by the end of the night. When she asked about Snape, they all fell silent. Remus was the one to explain his position in the Order and how his job was spying on Voldemort.

"And Dumbledore _trusts_ him? How do they know he's not playing off the other end of the stick?"

"It's more complicated than that," Lily replied.

James shifted uneasily in his seat and Sirius glanced at the ceiling.

Remus explained, "Severus is our closest link to any Death Eater activity. He's given us detailed descriptions of some of their meetings and provided us with extremely useful information on their plans. So far, we have no reason not to trust him."

"Except for the fact," Aurelia stated coldly, "that he's a Death Eater."

No one seemed to want to provide Snape any defense. It was obvious no one else trusted him either.

Just then, Dumbledore came through the door and said, "Pardon my interruption, but I need to borrow Miss Colton for a moment."

- - - - -

"Because I can remember things?" asked Aurelia, incredulously. "The Order needs me to _remember_ things?"

"In a manner of speaking," said Dumbledore simply.

"What, like dates? You tracked me down and recruited me to remember dates?"

Aurelia was starting to feel insignificant compared to the other members and it was only her first night in the organization. She uncrossed her legs and straightened her back in the chair in which she satIt was hard to think of Dumbledore as anything but her headmaster, and it began to unsettle her that she was being so rude to him.

"There will certainly be dates, but the missions you will be assigned will be to record conversations between Death Eaters or Voldemort's various other supporters. Conversations that we will need word-for-word. I do not doubt your ability to supply us with as much detail as you can provide, Miss Colton. Your work in the Order will be essential."

"I'm going to be stalking and eavesdropping on Death Eaters," Lia said, trying to get it through her head. "It just seems a little…unnecessary. I thought that spying was Severus' job."

"It is," Dumbledore replied. "For now you will be sharing a similar objective. But your talent will be more useful than you know."

Leaving his office, Aurelia tried to make sense of Dumbledore's words. School had not exactly prepared her for this, but she certainly felt her value heighten. Tracking Death Eaters. This was just the sort of risky job she had wanted, wasn't it?

- - - - - -

When one is hell-bent on taking over the world, they do not skimp on the interior decorating; this Silvia had learned. Often times the Dark Lord's dwelling was remarkably similar to the Slytherin common room at Hogwarts. There were definitely the same color schemes of green, silver and black with wood of cherry and mahogany. To many it would seem uninviting and gloomy. Seeing as a powerful wizard resided there it would be a correct thought. Frankly, it seemed quite comfortable to most members, as the majority came from that house.

Silvia sat along the back wall of the Dark Lord's hall with the other arranged Death Eaters. They had all been gathered for another meeting via Dark Mark, the most effective notification used. All attention was on the member currently delivering a status report. This was necessary as so many members had strategic jobs in the ministry and other important industries.

"—visited Azkaban again to check on the progress of Fitz and learned of his regrettable death," the man acting as a Ministry secretary reported. "The Minister was not pleased, but no information was leaked as far as we can tell."

"I see," Slytherin's Heir acknowledged icily. He had been hoping for more information concerning the estranged Fitz. He turned his dark serpent eyes onto the rising form of Silvia Colton. She was already becoming a favorite of his—nowhere near incompetence. Her Ministry position as a Tracker was key and her creative feats from Hogwarts added intrigue. She had also been recommended by those such as Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy. The fact that she must have been seven years of hell for Dumbledore was always a welcomed accomplishment.

"Magical Law Enforcement is having a hay day trying to track down the persons involved in several attacks on Muggles and Squibs alike, along with many known Muggle supporters. Tensions have increased in the Ministry and the Heads have become suspicious of their own departments. They fear spies of the Dark Lord," Silvia stated in an indifferent tone.

At the end of her monologue she received an approving nod and a, "Very good," before the Dark Lord moved to the next person to report. As the meeting drew to a close, seven people were requested to stay within the room: Bellatrix, her husband Rodolphus Lestrange, Avery, Wilkes, Crabbe, Goyle and Silvia.

Moving to the center of the room they knelt down and stared up at their Lord, waiting for his instructions. But all he did for the present was sit on his throne-backed chair, dominating the situation. His face, once handsome, was now deathly pale and contorted. His jet-black hair had faded somewhat. His eyes still had their dark quality but the white sclera had a permanent appearance of blood.

What seemed like ages to the seven Death Eaters was only seconds before the Dark Lord stood up from his throne and approached them. "I have kept you to send on a mission of great importance. It has come to my attention that Dumbledore's Order is gaining membership. This does not agree with our agenda. Tonight you will make a statement against joining, demonstrating our reasons why on Benji Fenwick."

Silvia's brain was already formulating what things they could do to the unfortunate Benji, but she wanted to be certain of the parameters they were working between. "What kind of statement, my lord?"

"The permanent kind, Silvia," the Dark Lord smirked and was returned with grins from his followers. "I don't want them to have enough for a proper funeral."

"As you wish, master," said Avery.

"That is all. You may go."

They were dismissed to wreak havoc on Fenwick for his affiliation with the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore would learn something by morning.

- - - - -

Seven consecutive _pops_ rang out on a silent street in the middle of London. Seven forms of what could have been wraiths drifted out from the English fog that settled over the ground like a blanket on a child. Midnight robes hid faces under skeletal masks. They could have very well been wraiths, for they fed on death. Death Eaters, the minions of the Dark Lord. Once again they would strike.

Silently they moved to the house, one figure raising a hand, making a circular motion. Other heads nodded in consent and moved around the house until it was enclosed. Glancing down to check the time, the figure at the front door watched the numbers turn to one o'clock in the morning. It was then that "_Alohomora_" was hissed several times and muffled clicks were heard. Each figure entered into the house by the way they had unlocked, clearing the rooms on the bottom floor before meeting again at the stairs. They nodded as one as they walked up towards their target.

- - - - -

Benji Fenwick tossed again in his sleep. To be honest, he had been living in hell for the few weeks. His sister had been attacked quite recently and he had been losing sleep from worrying over her. His days were spent between visiting her, attempting work and Order meetings. Lately he had been lacking on the latter. Dumbledore knew he would need some time before he could be any use to the Order again. It was becoming apparent that someone hated Benji.

A noise sounded outside his bedroom and his eyes opened to darkness. He sat up and scanned the room for the source of the noise. Upon finding nothing, he laid back down and closed his eyes. It wasn't five minutes later that he heard the same noise and this time when he sat up he came face to face with a half a skull. About to scream, a hand preempted him and covered his mouth with a pale hand. He felt the owner's breath against his ear.

"Tsk tsk, Benji, we'll have none of that."

It was then that Fenwick saw the other six figures in his bedroom, all in the same apparel. And he knew it was Death Eaters. That meant one thing—he was going to die.

Rough hands hauled him out of the bed sheets and to the floor where seven wands were trained upon his person. "We have a message for Dumbledore that you need to deliver," a rough voice spat. "But first, you need to join your Muggle filth."

The whisper of "_Crucio"_ was barely heard before it felt the pain. It was as if his body was slowly being ripped apart and set on fire. It was pins and needles running throughout his body, tearing it apart piece by piece. He was screaming, wailing in pain and horror. _Had they done this to his sister? Is that why she would not recover?_

"As much as I enjoy hearing you scream, Mr. Fenwick, you are awakening your neighbors. And they have not been invited over yet. _Silencio!_" a cool voice hissed. Benji's cries stopped short in their tirade. "Better."

The pain stopped momentarily before it started up again. He wasn't quite sure how long the burning lasted but it finally stopped as his vision began to waver. Another wand was pointed at him and a deep gash was created upon his chest. The blood spilled out to stain his clothes, trickling down to puddle around his prone form. Two more wands were pointed at him and various gashes appeared. It was as if a hot knife was cutting through his flesh. More blood was emerging. He was certain a stain would be present on the floor for the rest of eternity.

"_Diffindo!_" Benji felt his finger sliced from his hand and felt another removed the same way. It wasn't until he felt all of his fingers and toes removed that his vision swam again and he was finally welcomed into the blissful abyss of unconsciousness.

One of the figures kicked him with the toe of a boot, but he remained motionless. "All right, he's out. Time to finish this," the form commanded, and that's what they did. Systematically they chopped and mutilated his body until it was little better than a minced portion of flesh surrounded by a massive puddle of blood. The crimson liquid had run out of the room and into the hallway, seeping under doorways. Blood had spattered across the walls from the countless gashes.

The group prepared to leave the room but one stayed behind, causing the rest to stop in question.

"Notify him without me. I'll make sure that it is publicized," a female voice declared. The others nodded and left the house as silently as they had arrived. The woman who was left inside the house took off her mask and pushed back her hood to reveal navy hair that cascaded down her back. She levitated one of the scraps of what had been Benji Fenwick's shirt to dip it into a puddle of blood. She then directed it towards the wall in intricately set lines. When she was done, her message was clear.

_THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE THAT OPPOSE HIM._

_DEFIANCE IS FUTILE._

Leaving the house she walked out onto the front lawn and shouted, "_Morsmordre!_" Immediately a cluster of green sparks merged to form a glowing skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, identical to the mark on her left forearm. She threw on a cloak before hiding in the shadows across the street to wait for the authorities to arrive and view the scene left within the bedroom.

- - - - -

It wasn't until later that morning that Silvia Colton returned home to be met by a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist. As the holder inhaled the scent of her hair, she relaxed back into the hold of lover.

"Have a good time, luv?" Evan questioned huskily.

"A blast. Too bad you weren't on the guest list, sweet," Silvia murmured. "Can't wait to read about it at work tomorrow."

He chuckled into her hair. "He will be pleased with your work."

"It was a rather nice display, if I do say so myself," she commented.

"I think you should celebrate a job well done," said Evan, kissing her behind the ear, his breath hot against her skin.

Silvia turned around in his arms and brought his face down to the same level as hers. "I think that's an excellent idea," she muttered before she caught his lips with her own.


	7. Masters of Mischief

_ Past_

**CHAPTER VII **

_Masters of Mischief_

"Don't go down that hallway," yelled a Ravenclaw prefect coming down the third floor corridor. "Some gits are shooting off fireworks and lighting tapestries on fire."

The girls' third year was eventful, to say the least. Madam Pomfrey was more swamped than ever. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy the company, she just didn't need the extra bodies in her hospital wing. With all the injuries that had been inflicted in the first three weeks, she was barley able to keep up. The children just kept getting into trouble—worse, it was while they were in classes. A fifth year turned his nose into a blow horn during Transfiguration, pairs of potions were exploding regularly and then there where the customary flying accidents. At first, Pomfrey thought the incidents were happening in order for students to get out of lessons; that was until Davy Gudgeon hobbled through the door.

He was the only student incompetent enough to dismiss Dumbledore's warning, the only student foolish enough to try to surpass the Whomping Willow and the only student of the entire school to enter the hospital wing missing an eye.

Apparently, Mr. Gudgeon had been double-doxy-no-gnomed out-dared to touch the trunk of the deadly tree by none other than Emit Jorkins. Davy was a Gryffindor and therefore bravery was a trait he carried on his sleeve. How could he resist? After plenty of yelling and reprimand, Madam Pomfrey restored his eye, even offering a few notches higher than what it had been.

Why the Whomping Willow had been planted, no one was quite sure. The students had accepted it without question and the teachers didn't seem to mind that there was a killer tree on the grounds. Students, however, did not mind doing as Dumbledore requested after Davy's accident. A letter had notified his parents of the boy's actions and the next day a Howler arrive for poor Davy Gudgeon. His dare had certainly not gone unnoticed.

Weeks passed and October 31st finally tiptoed around the corner and new surprises were in store for the occupants of Hogwarts.

But whatever they were, Silvia was never one to turn away from trouble, so she headed to the source. She was pushed into the crowd and ended up next to Aurelia, mostly by chance and a little persuasion.

"Who do you suppose it is?" Lia asked out of the side of her mouth. The group was being jostled all over the hallway, but no one seemed eager to move.

"Honestly, your friends are the most suspected for any incident in this school, so I'd say them."

Suddenly, the entire group was pushed backwards and a couple people around them fell to the floor. The two girls could see a faint cloud rising up over the students and those in the front of the crowd had covered their mouths and coughed into hands, sleeves, parchment—anything.

The cause of this was the concurrent release of half a dozen dungbombs and stink pellets. It only took five minutes or so for the smell to cover the entire third floor. It was then that they heard someone scream, but to their surprise it came from the back of the group. Every person in the hall turned around to catch a glimpse of a student falling down a flight of stairs and landing on the second floor with a _thud! _Many people around them let out gasps and they heard someone say, "I think she's broken her ankle!"

"Get her to the hospital wing!" another cried.

A girl to the right said, "She needs Madam Pomfrey!"

Several students had rushed forward but upon seeing the silver and green tie the girl wore, hesitated. Silvia noticed their pause and her curiosity won out. She went down to help the girl, who turned out to be her fellow Slytherin, Tidra Midnight.

"Bloody hell, Ti. What happened?" Silvia asked. She helped to balance her on her one sturdy foot.

"What do you think happened?" Tidra said testily with a wince of pain as she stood. "The crowd up there pushed me down the stairs!"

Silvia, scowling, replied, "Hey, don't get mad at me because these gits here decided to step backward. And it's your own fault you were balancing off the edge anyway."

"I wasn't balancing on the edge, I was walking up the stairs!" Tidra huffed.

"Fine," Silvia consented. "Then we'll blame the gits until further inspection. How's that?"

Tidra thought it over before nodding. "All right."

It was then that the two noticed several pairs of eyes in their general direction. Silvia fixed a glare for everyone except Aurelia, who seemed to have found the whole exchange hilarious as she was clutching to the wall attempting to stop herself from laughing.

Silvia took Tidra up to the hospital wing and met with Madam Pomfrey who was running around busily. It was then that they realized the wing was more than half full. Two or three people's faces were a light shade of green, a girl had a toilet scrubber shoved in her ear (and she was squealing like a pig) and one Severus Snape was lying on a bed with toothpicks sticking out of his skin. From the look on his face, the ones in the back had only recently been removed so he was able to lie down. He didn't look comfortable.

Silvia settled Tidra on the bed Madam Pomfrey directed. She drifted over to Severus as Tidra was examined. "Have a thing for porcupines, eh, Severus?"

"Silvia, go bother someone else," Snape growled.

Her hand covered her mouth and she replied, "Snapey, why ever do you hate me so?" and heard something that sounded like "cousin" before everyone's attention flew to the nurse.

"YOU GOT PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS?"

Tidra reddened and replied, "That's what I said,isn't it?"

"And who pushed you?" Pomfrey asked, notes of hysteria trickling off her lips.

"A whole group of people—I don't know! I was kind of falling at the time."

"You don't know WHO? HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE SEEN…" Pomfrey was obviously on the edge of a nervous breakdown and Tidra wasn't helping matters.

Silvia caught the nurse's arm and led her over to a chair. "Would you like a glass of water?"

The response was little more than a nod and a squeak and Via sent a goblet over to a sixth year to be filled.

Pomfrey was shaking. "If—if they don't catch the students who've done all this—I—I think I'm going to resign."

Silvia almost let a grin escape her. "Don't worry," she said in a comforting voice. "I'm sure they will."

After a few more minutes of forced silence in the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey seemed to be able to function once more. "All right, Miss Midnight. Your ankle is indeed broken, so you will need to stay overnight—"

Suddenly, Snape broke into laughter as he stared at the doors to the wing and everyone's eyes followed to find Aurelia standing there, soaking wet. Her hair dripped water onto the floor and her blouse clung to her skin. Her eyes were red and she looked as if she were about to sneeze.

"Madam Pomfrey, you wouldn't happen to know the cure for a Muggle cold, would you?"

"Sweet Merlin, what happened to you?" asked the nurse.

"Bucket of water, over my—" Lia sneezed "—head. Didn't see who did it."

Pomfrey led her to a chair on the other side of Tidra's bed, the only unoccupied seat in the ward, and went to get a bottle of Pepperup Potion from her office. Aurelia grabbed a towel from the stand beside the bed and lowered her head to her knees. She put the towel on top of her head, working on drying her hair. Silvia glanced at her and heard her mutter, "I swear, when I'm done with Potter and Black, I'll be seeing Thestrals."

- - - - -

Every Halloween a feast was thrown in the Great Hall. After all, Muggles associated the holiday with witches and wizards, among various mystical creatures. The hall had flaming orange streamers swirling all across the ceiling with hundreds of live bats flying between the illusionary clouds. The usual floating candles were placed inside pumpkins. These pumpkins, however, were quite a size smaller than the garden shed ones placed around the room as decoration. For the most part, Halloween was an extremely enjoyable time for the students. Dumbledore even provided some sort of entertainment. This year, they would receive an _extra_ surprise.

The students of Hogwarts were sitting in the Great Hall enjoying the fruits of the house elves' labor. There were many people talking about the self-proclaimed _Marauders_ of Hogwarts and their various pranks throughout the day. Although many teachers were annoyed by the schemes, Dumbledore seemed amused. The four boys had taken it into consideration for their evening plan.

Candle flames flickered before dying entirely in the middle of the second course. A few spells were whispered quickly, four persons vacated their seats and the doors to the Great Hall closed loudly. Quite a few opinions were voiced.

"Who left?"

"Get your foot away from my leg!"

"Ow! Did you just _bite_ me?"

It was after that particular comment that a person nearby pulled out their wand and declared, "_Lumos!_" Several screams were heard as the females of the room discovered varied furry animals—mainly rodents—covering the floor. More wands were lit before Dumbledore waved his hand and the candles ignited again to light the room. All of the students realized the full extent of the rodent infestation at that moment. Suddenly, the bats from above swooped down at the prospect of easy prey. Both males and females were screaming and shouting in horror as the bats swooped down on the students. The teachers sighed in frustration; it would take hours to clean up the mess.

In the corridor outside the Great Hall, four sets of boyish laughter would have been heard if the screams had not overridden them. The students had noticed a few of their number missing during the events, but who was going to snitch them out?

- - - - -

Apparently, many people were going to snitch them out. Aurelia counted at least seven Gryffindors complaining they were taking it up with Professor McGonagall. Everyone knew who had been the ones behind the Halloween feast charade. Aurelia was certain Dumbledore knew as well, so it was of no consequence whether or not they decided to become tattle-tales.

By the end of the day, Potter and Black had two weeks worth of detentions and Remus and Peter were stuck cleaning the trophy room. Being generous and pitying of the two boys, Aurelia would have offered to send them a few House Elves had Woldrum not decided to guard the door. It would also have been exceedingly difficult for her to do anything while racing on a broom.

Only four days after Halloween, yet another fight broke out between Gryffindor and Slytherin but this time all four houses were involved. It was of course Quidditch-related. Hufflepuff thought their team owned the fastest brooms. Ravenclaw seemed to think they had the best Beaters. Slytherin was of the mind that their green-and-silver uniforms were the most spectacular of the house teams. And Gryffindor was just out to overrule them all.

It came down to races. Whichever five-person team, selected by the captains, flew across the Quidditch field first won 'all of the above'. It was uncanny that so many of the Gryffindor players were detained that day. Potter was in detention, Davy Gudgeon was still getting the sap off him from Herbology and a Chaser named Julianne Landry was working on a ceiling-high pile of extra work because she'd decided to skip lessons two days in a row (and McGonagall was not at all pleased).

It was by miraculous chance that Aurelia had been pulled out of the crowd of Gryffindors to be the fifth racer. She was nervous…who in their right mind wouldn't be? She was going up against brilliant flyers from all their rival households who actually played Quidditch. She couldn't stop thinking that she was going to embarrass herself and her entire house in about thirty seconds. That's when she spotted Silvia, four or five brooms away from her.

Silvia had been chosen instantly to be one of the five representatives of Slytherin. It was no secret that she adored flying and was extremely adept at the art form, not to mention competitive. Flying had been the one childhood pastime that she never outgrew. There was just something about having the wind race through her hair while she was circling a hundred feet above the ground. It was a high—a high that involved nothing but wood and a few twigs, and of course magic.

Of the nineteen students chosen for the collected houses, both Coltons had been picked. Silvia grinned at the thought of Aurelia being in the race, an activity they had competed in as youngsters. It would be interesting to see how they faired now that they were older.

Mounting her broom Silvia hovered above the ground, frustrated that they had to decide on a judge before they started. The only _truly_ impartial judge they could pick would be a teacher, and that took the thrill out of the races. It was unanimously resolved that four students would be selected, one from each house.

"Wait a moment," the Ravenclaw seeker began, postponing the beginning of the race. "What are the rules and limitations?"

"There _are_ no rules," a Gryffindor supplied boldly.

"No rules?" one of her Slytherin teammates asked in disbelief. The other three houses nodded agreement. "All right, just remember that."

The other houses didn't have time to look into the cryptic message as the race was about to begin. Each student took his or her place, spreading along the width of the field. The Slytherins looked to their appointed captain for the time and he gave a wicked grin while nodding his head. They all knew what that meant: _Do what you have to_.

Sparks were sent up via four wands and the contestants shot off. It was neck and neck until the wands were taken out. Invariably, they were first brandished by the Slytherins who, true to their nature, took out the weakest Hufflepuffs. All it took was disabling a few racers so the entire team would be unable to finish. Gryffindors took to the Hufflepuffs who had been badly crippled and sent hexes flying back at the Slytherins who easily dodged. The race continued in similar patterns.

Silvia was near the front of the group and it hadn't been necessary to resort to magic to slow the progress of the opposing teams. She swerved her broom to the right, in front of an approaching Ravenclaw who was forced to dive to avoid contact. He didn't pull up in time. By this time, the lions and the serpents were dominant.

That's when Silvia noticed Aurelia once again.

Quickly, she dodged several spells sent her way with an artful barrel roll. As she came upon her cousin, another Gryffindor flyer yelled out, "Aurelia! Behind you!"

Lia looked over her shoulder to see a grinning Silvia on her tail.

"Fine time for a fly, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indefinitely," said Aurelia, though she was quite uncertain of her reckless cousin's motives.

"How about a race for old time's sake?" Silvia asked.

"Well…"

"C'mon, Lia!"

Aurelia still looked unsure, that is until she yelled a rushed "You're on!" and shot off towards the end of the Quidditch field. Silvia raced after her, tipping her broom nose down to increase speed. Side by side, with neither gaining ground on the other, it was apparent their flying skills hadn't changed. As it turned out, they crossed the finish line at the same moment and it was declared a tie. No team's five players actually made it to the end and only three other racers besides the Colton cousins finished the race remaining in the air.

- - - - -

The weeks passed unusually fast at Hogwarts. Classes were a bore. Homework was a nuisance. Teachers were strict. Common rooms were a mess. It was quite a shock when Aurelia didn't receive a scolding for an accident in Potions one gloomy afternoon. Her teachers on that particular day answered her questions in depressed tones. Aurelia did not think much of their strange behaviors until she entered the Gryffindor common room from her Care of Magical Creatures lesson to find Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Colton," she said quietly. It was the same dispirited voice Professor Kettleburn used when telling Aurelia she was excused from the homework only fifteen minutes before. "Follow me, please."

McGonagall led her down several flights of stairs, finally turning down a wide hallway. Lia had never visited this end of the school, but knew from explicit details supplied by her classmates that it led to the Headmaster's office. Once they reached a fork, McGonagall stopped in front of a large stone gargoyle that had its back to the wall before them. She proclaimed, "Licorice Snaps," and the gargoyle leapt aside and the walls beyond split in two to reveal a spiral staircase that came out of the floor. Perhaps this unique magical effect was supposed to intimidate students, but Aurelia thought it was marvelous.

McGonagall gestured for her to move inside, but Lia hesitated. Much to her surprise, the old woman did not seem perturbed; in fact, her words were almost comforting when she said, "The headmaster would like a word, Miss Colton."

Had she done something wrong? Aurelia's mind blurred as she tried to recall her past indiscretions. Of course she'd done something wrong; she was going to see the headmaster! Dumbledore didn't select students to "have a word with" at random. The only thing she could think of was after lunch when she had enchanted a bucket of mop water to splash a few Slytherin girls in the first floor bathroom. But they had deserved it, all shrieking with laughter and talking about how stupid Lia was for adding fluxweed to her Swelling Solution in Potions. Surely Dumbledore would understand. It wasn't _that_ horrible, was it? She could have done a lot worse.

She hadn't realized she had been taken up the stairs to stand in front of two giant oak doors until she heard the knocking sound her own hand was making. A soft, recognizable voice on the other side told her to enter. Pulling back on the door handle, she looked at Professor McGonagall, who had on a look of forlorn, and stepped inside.

The first thing Aurelia took in was all of the portraits. The walls were covered from left to right with pictures of men and women. Most sat in their chairs cross-legged or leaned silently against their frames. There were nick-knacks everywhere she looked. Metal contraptions filled shelves all around the room. Some looked interesting while others were just bizarre. Aurelia looked up to find Dumbledore standing next to his desk with his hands tucked neatly behind his back and a boy standing a few feet away with his back to her. She knew who it was before he turned to acknowledge her.

"Romey?" Lia asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I would like to know that myself," Romey said quietly, his eyes once again on Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore had done a great many things in his life and rest assured he would do a great many more in his remaining years. What he had to do on this day, however, was not something of glorifying acclaim. It wasn't part of the business he was engaged in and it was possibly one of the hardest things he had ever had to tell a student. He stood in front of the pair with his hands forming a steeple as if in meditation. He took a breath, preparing himself before looking back into the young children's eyes.

It was in that instant that Dumbledore's heart was split in two. The knowledge he was about to give them would destroy the world as they knew it and it tore him up inside to be the bearer of the bad news.

"Mr. and Ms. Colton, if you would please each take a seat," Dumbledore finally suggested. He watched as they warily sat in the black leather chintz that adorned the space in front of his desk. He, in turn, stood before them, readying himself in order to explain the letter he had received.

"First, I would like to tell you that you are not called here due to any trouble on your part or by another student," Dumbledore began. Both Coltons relaxed visibly at the news that they were not being punished. "However, I do have grave news to tell you both and I would appreciate if you held your questions until the end. This is not an easy thing for me to do."

The siblings turned to look at one another, filled with worry and alarm—something not easy for Dumbledore to do had to mean the worst. They turned back and nodded at the headmaster to continue.

Dumbledore took another inhalation of breath. "I was sent a letter this morning from St. Mungo's in regards to your mother. It appears that the previous evening an incident occurred in which she was involved. Mrs. Colton was walking along the streets, for what reason I do not know, and happened upon a Muggle. The individual was not in his right mind and threatened her with one of the Muggle killing devices—a gun. She had not, for reasons unknown, had her wand with her at the time and was thus defenseless. There was nothing of value on her when she was found and the Aurors believe that it was a mugging, one in which your mother refused to be relieved of her possessions. I am deeply sorry to have to tell you this, but… Maggie is dead."

Aurelia tried to stand up, but her legs gave way beneath her and she fell to her knees. Her hazel eyes brimmed with tears that began streaking down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. She was rendered blind while memories flashed violently through her brain. The only words she could whisper past her dry lips were, "It's not true…i-it's not true."

Feeling hands on her shoulders, she shoved them furiously away. Lia wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her robes and looked up at her brother, standing before her with red eyes and a look of lamentation.

"He's lying," she said quietly, gazing at Romey desperately, as if waiting for him to tell her it had all been some sick joke. "HE'S LYING!"

Romey bent down, wrapping his arms around Lia's body and she broke into uncontrollable sobs.

_It is true_, she thought miserably. _He's not lying. My mother is dead._

Aurelia didn't know how long she had taken to compose herself from the tears that had racked her body. She was still in Dumbledore's office with Romey holding her in his arms.She tried desperately to cling to a last hope that it had been a mistake, that her mother wasn't really dead, but in her heart she knew it was true. Dumbledore wouldn't lie to _any_ of his students. She looked up raggedly into her brother's eyes and stifled a sob. She stepped back out of Romey's reach and brought herself shakily to her feet, with her weight rested heavily on the nearest table.

Romey walked towards her, intent on bringing her back into an embrace. "Aurelia…"

"I'm fine," Lia bit out harshly. Her voice sounded torn to her ears and she seemed to realize how long she had cried.

Her brother seemed more worried about her because of her tone. He approached her again and tried to wrap his arms around her once more. In return, Aurelia pushed her brother's arms away from her. "I'm _fine_," she repeated.

"But you're not, Lia," Romey replied softly.

Aurelia turned to look at her brother and took a deep breath, trying to calm down her raging emotions. "Yes, I am."

"Don't lie to me, Aurelia," Romey said sternly.

This statement only reminded her of her mother and it brought up every emotion she had been trying to suppress.

And then she ran. Romey made to run after her but Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Sometimes the heart needs solitude to heal from the grief."

Aurelia ran blindly from Dumbledore's office. Air, she needed air. She felt like she was suffocating; her chest was heaving in its effort to fill her lungs. She ran through corridors she could only see blurred and up flights of stairs until she felt the rush of air against her face. That's when her legs gave out for the second time and she clung to the wall. Her wet cheeks felt cool against the stone surface.

Gone. Her mother was gone…

- - - - -

Silvia fumed. Evan Rosier was positively the stupidest boy she had ever met! He had poured ink all over the contents of her book bag in the spirit of revenge on one thing or another that she had done to upset him previously. Her Charms essay had been in the bag and it had taken her forever to write. The prick would not be able to sit down for a month when she sought to plot vengeance. But first, she needed to cool down, to start to formulate a plan of attack. That only meant one place for her to go—the Astronomy Tower.

The sight that greeted her when she reached the tower sent her angry feelings to the furthest reaches of her mind. It was Aurelia, clinging to the tower wall for dear life and crying softly. Silvia was over to her cousin's side within seconds and down on her knees next to her.

"Aurelia?" Silvia tried quietly. She had seen her cousin cry before. They had grown up together, after all, but this was different. She seemed so distant and lost from the world. Something was severely wrong. "Lia?" This time she added a little shake.

Aurelia turned her tear-streaked face to look at Silvia. Her eyes seemed glazed over and haunted, fitting perfectly with her somber expression. Via took her cousin's response positively and moved on to her next train of thought.

"What's wrong, Lia?"

"Mum," Aurelia whispered hoarsely.

"What's wrong with Aunt Maggie?"

It took several moments in the absence of sound until Aurelia finally answered, "She's dead."

"WHAT?" Silvia exclaimed, partially because of the lack of expression in her cousin's voice and partially because of statement itself.

"Gone. Dead. How much clearer do you need it to be, Via?" she asked stonily.

Silvia turned Aurelia's head to look straight into her eyes. "What happened?"

"Dumbledore says it was a mugging, by a Muggle. Ironic, isn't it? A mugging by a Muggle. Killed with one of those shooting things—a gun. That's what he called it, a gun. My mother was taken from me by a small piece of metal wedged into her by some _bastard_ who wanted her money." Aurelia's voice cracked somewhere in the middle of her monologue but she took no notice. "So what happened, Silvia, is that my mother is dead and she's never coming back."

"Then what is the matter with you?"

Aurelia looked away from Silvia again and into the night sky. "I just found out my mother died, that's what's the matter."

"But why aren't you an emotional wreck. What's wrong with you? How can you be so mechanical, you're like a bloody machine." Silvia was straightforward, if nothing else, and where family was concerned, she would never ignore a problem. _Ever_.

"Me? _What's wrong with me?_ Are you seriously asking that?" Aurelia lashed out. "My _mother_ is dead! She'll never be back. So excuse me while I grieve."

Silvia could hear the bitterness in Lia's voice and knew she longed for solitude, but she wouldn't allow the girl she considered a sister to go through the tragedy alone. She wouldn't be deterred by harsh words.

"This isn't grieving. This is rejection and it's not healthy."

Aurelia was silent as if she seemed to be earnestly considering what she had just been told.

"Ask me if I care."

SMACK! Silvia slapped Aurelia across the face so hard her skin turned red. "I care!" Silvia said firmly. Gray eyes stared into their equals. "Don't you ever doubt that."

Their eyes stayed locked for quite some time before Aurelia's hard façade cracked. With its destruction came a fresh wave of tears and wails. Silvia held her cousin, hugging her tightly and whispering words of comfort. Silvia decided that Aurelia was grieving enough for the both of them at the moment, but a few tears rolled down her own cheeks. They stayed there for the rest of the night and Aurelia fell asleep in Silvia's arms. Via looked down on her cousin and smiled slightly. A loss this dreadful had been something Silvia wished her cousin had never had to endure.

She pulled out her wand and whispered, "_Wingardium Leviosa_," and Lia began to hover above the ground. Due to the fact that they were in a tower very near that of Gryffindor House, she thought it best to deliver Aurelia to her own room. She arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady and tapped lightly on the frame to rouse her from slumber.

The Fat Lady glared down at her threateningly. "What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor," Silvia answered smoothly.

The portrait raised an eyebrow and said, "And what, pray tell, would that be?"

"My cousin, Aurelia," she motioned to the sleeping form floating behind her, "is having a hard night. She would benefit from seeing her friends in the morning, not to mention a proper bed to sleep in—"

"Listen girly, I'm not letting you in here. Gryffindors only, that's the rules."

"Actually, I was going to ask if you could visit another painting in the girl's third year dormitory and wake someone up to come and get her," Silvia said, keeping her voice polite, however annoyed she was at being cut off by a portrait.

"I suppose I could do that for the poor dear. She doesn't look well," the Fat Lady admitted, looking down at Aurelia again.

"Thank you."

Silvia watched the Fat Lady disappear for several long minutes. Truthfully, it would have been easier on her part to bring Lia back to Slytherin House, but she wasn't sure how her housemates would take it and Aurelia would need her friend's support in the morning when everything set in. Hopefully the Fat Lady had actually done as she had asked and not gone to snooze somewhere less bothersome.

Just then, she popped back into the portrait frame and it swung on its hinges as a sleepy looking redhead came through. Her yawn was quite unladylike and she looked around confusedly when she spotted a Slytherin and Aurelia's floating body.

"What's this about?" the redhead asked flatly. "Fat Lady came in babbling about some snake knocking on her frame with a body behind them."

"Evans, right?" Silvia received a muted nod. "I came here about Aurelia. She found out her mother died and she'd fallen asleep before I could get her here. So, I was hoping you could settle her in bed."

"Her mum died?" Evans asked, her eyes bulging.

"Yes. Do you have your wand with you?" Another nod of confirmation. "Would you mind taking over the spell then?"

Evans glared at the Slytherin but did as was suggested. Aurelia's body fell and inch or so and then picked up to the same height again as one spell was stopped and another started. The redhead had started to direct Aurelia into the common room, as she turned away from the portrait backing.

"Hey Evans!"

She turned around again to face the Slytherin Colton.

"Could you give this to Aurelia when she wakes up?"

The redhead was a little confused but responded, "Yeah, I guess."

"Thanks," said Silvia, handing over an odd shaped object, then turned and walked away, leaving the freckled Gryffindor to lead Lia to their room.

- - - - -

Aurelia woke in the morning to the familiar feeling of a bed beneath her. She looked over into the clock to notice it was five in the morning. She tried to remember when she had gotten back to her room. The last thing she could recall was being in the Astronomy Tower with Silvia. She turned her head and winced in pain as the material came in contact with her cheek—her still tender cheek—and then she remembered why she had been struck.

The clock, she noticed, had turned to one minute after five. That's when her eyes settled on something on her nightstand. They were a pair of brass binoculars, but with far too many knobs and buttons to be a regular pair. They had to be omnioculars. Curiously, she lifted them off of the table and put them to her eyes, having used a pair at Via's house before, and pressed one of the knobs.

What she saw made her stomach roll. It was Maggie, her mother, and all of her relatives at one of their family parties. She remembered that day. Silvia had brought her pair out to show Aurelia and had taken to spying on them all. She rewound and played it slowly on her mother. As she did so, she felt the tears return to her already swollen eyes.


	8. Ice and Fire

_Present_

**CHAPTER VIII  
**

_Ice and Fire_

_She was cold. So cold…_

_All around her she could feel ice rubbing against her bare skin. Every direction she looked, she found still darkness before her. Then she felt hands over her eyes. They were rough and callused, but comfortingly so. Aurelia turned around and her vision was restored as she met a pair of fathomless gray eyes. Sighing, she rested in Sirius' outstretched arms, but as she fell deeper into his embrace, she hit the hard ground. When she looked up, Sirius was pointing his wand at her threateningly and smirking. Tears welled in her eyes, but trying to blink them back made her heart tremble. Dumbledore was standing over her now, wand pointed. He said in his soft, soothing voice, "Trust only yourself. When you rely on others, you will find yourself the weakest"…he was whisked away suddenly as if vanishing into the wind and was replaced by a sight that almost stopped Lia's heart. Silvia was standing above her, green flames flashing in slow motion from her wand, which was, as the previous wands before it, pointed at her cousin._

- - - - -

Aurelia awoke in a cold sweat. Her vision was fuzzy and her breathing was slightly heavier than usual. She put a hand to her forehead, which was wet with perspiration. That is when she noticed a barn owl pecking mercilessly at the windowpane. Taipa was hooting softly in his cage, also pecking, but at the metal bars surrounding him. She noticed that he had spilled his water bowl onto the desk, no doubt drenching countless work papers.

Lifting the covers off her, she leapt out of bed and unlocked Taipa's cage, and then went to the window to open it. The brown barn owl swooped into the room and flew around the ceiling with Taipa, looking very much like large vampire bats. She couldn't coax the visitor to deliver the letter and finally ordered Taipa back into his cage. The barn owl tried to follow but found that, to its displeasure, it couldn't fit. After deciding the whole ordeal was not worth the effort, it flew towards Aurelia and landed on her extended arm, sending out its own leg. Lia untied the letter, which was strapped tightly to the bird's foot and led it to the window where it took flight again.

"Who do you suppose sends owls at three o'clock in the morning?" she asked Taipa as he flew towards her and landed on her shoulder, tilting his head curiously.

Aurelia broke the envelope open with her index finger, sliding it carefully along the seal. She took out the piece of parchment and unfolded it. Taipa clicked his beak and nipped affectionately at Lia's ear.

While reading the letter, she tried desperately to stay calm, yet seeing as the contents were both devastating and frightening, she could not withhold a small gasp. Still clinging to Dumbledore's report, she let herself fall onto the bed, her hand running over her forehead to push away strands of fallen hair.

Benji Fenwick had been in his own home when the Death Eaters had mutilated him. The realization of it—the audacity that she had, only hours before, seen his name on the wall of "members in danger". Why hadn't they contacted him? He would have been ready then, and he could have called for help. Subconsciously, Aurelia reached out to grasp the wand that lay on the bedside table.

She heard a voice in her head that whispered, "The poor chit barely escaped alive."

Silvia. Lia needed someone to talk to about all of this. She needed someone she could confide in, someone she'd known for a long time. But Silvia she couldn't confide in, however strong their friendship was. Via was not a member of the Order and Lia had questions, things that needed to be answered about the group she had gotten herself coaxed into joining. The entire situation was an unexpected burden all in the first night of her membership. But Lia could only think of one other person to whom she could go.

It was less than five minutes later that she was standing on the steps of a well-kept three-story house. The lamps that lined the street behind her flickered slightly, but Aurelia decided it had only been her overactive imagination. She heard a voice from inside after she knocked on the door, but could not make out what had been said. Also from within came grumbling noises and locks being hastily unbolted.

The door opened and Sirius and Aurelia stood gazing at each other. Then, Lia stepped forward and walked right into him, rapping her arms around his chest and sighed deeply into his shirt. At first, Sirius was baffled, but he slowly, knowingly, put his arms around her shoulders and brought her in closer to him. He gently pushed her head against his chest so that Aurelia could hear his heart beating.

"Sirius, I'm so sorry," she said, her voice on the verge of trembling. "But I'm—I—"

"Because of what happened to Benji?"

She looked up and nodded absentmindedly. Sirius attempted to move back a few inches, far enough so that he could close the door. They managed to go from standing in the doorway to lying on the couch without once breaking completely apart.

"What's on your mind, Lia?" Sirius said soothingly to her earlobe.

"Everything. I mean, hearing about Benji, its not something you can just put away and move on with, is it? How did you persuade me to join the Order?"

"I find myself in shock that you cannot recollect the event clearly."

"I do, I just…wanted to know why I'd been stupid enough to do it."

Sirius laid the back of his hand against her cheek and stoked. "It's hard to take in at first. The feeling won't go away for awhile, just like you said. You're upset that Benji's dead and you didn't even know him. He was a great man. You-Know-Who took out his only weakness first—his Muggle sister was his to protect and when he saw what those bastard Death Eaters had done to her, his defenses broke. I'm sure he still fought in the end, right up until the moment he died." Aurelia quickly buried her head in Sirius' shirt as he looked down at her. She was ashamed to be crying and she wasn't sure of the reason. "Hey," he said softly, putting his hand under her chin and lifting her head. "There's always something to look forward to."

"What?" Aurelia asked as Sirius moved his thumb under her eye to wipe away a tear.

"Killing _him_."

Lia looked up at him, her gaze moving slowly and then shut her eyes. Sirius wrapped his arms around her body and kissed her closed eyelid. After a few more minutes of silence they both fell asleep, their arms still wrapped around one another.

- - - - -

There hadn't been anymore nightmares to get her heart racing, but it nearly stopped when she hit the cold floor tiles. Her head began throbbing as was usual when it hit something hard. Bringing her hand up to the back of her head, she heard Sirius' bark of laughter from above.

"Shut your snout," Aurelia scorned, frowning because of the pain her head was issuing. "Laughing at me like it's my fault."

"You're blaming me?" asked Sirius, his eyes wide. "How do you figure?"

"Well, _I_ was on top!"

This statement produced a grin from Sirius and caused Aurelia's cheeks to flush.

"Don't get used to it," he teased, but now Aurelia just rolled her eyes and stood up. The instant she did so, she wished she hadn't, for her brain leapt and ricocheted off the sides of her skull. She fell on top of Sirius, who had sat up so that she now lay across his lap.

"You didn't used to be this clingy, Lia."

Aurelia wasn't intending to make him jealous, but she replied, "After two year of dating other guys, sometimes it happens."

Sirius' grin faded at once. "What do you mean _other guys_?"

"You know," Lia said, sitting up again and kissing Sirius on the lips. Pulling away, she supplied, "Guys other than you." He had on a face that suggested the jealousy she had expected, but also some curiosity. "Oh, like you didn't have plenty of other girlfriends when you got out of Hogwarts. Don't even try it—I know you've had at least ten."

"How would you—"

"Knowing you it's plausible, which made me believe those letters Lily and Remus sent me."

"What? They wrote to you about me?"

"Of course not, love, you were a side note. I gave them my addresses in France and Germany before I left the wedding. I wasn't about to give them to you."

"Why not?" he asked, dismayed. "We were talking civilly by the end of the night."

Aurelia stood up, laughing. "Only because Remus convinced us to stop fighting. If it hadn't been for him, we'd still hate each other." Lia suddenly grabbed the collar of Sirius' shirt and pulled him up to meet a nice, long kiss. When they parted, Aurelia said, "Bless him."

"Yeah, thank God for Remus," Sirius muttered as he pulled her closer and they kissed again. But it wasn't long before Aurelia's eyes flashed open and she pushed him off of her.

"Sirius, I have to work today!" She made an irritated sound from her throat and started towards the door. "You make me forget everything!"

"But…I thought I was a good boyfriend."

"Love you," she managed to say before she apparated back to her house to change and collect her paperwork.

- - - - -

It was a hectic day at _Portkeys to Paradise_ since the Christmas holidays were coming up. Aurelia was regretting the fact that she hadn't taken a sick day and stayed with Sirius because the entire office was non-stop chaos. She had recently been promoted to Junior Administrator of the Northern European cell. It was a huge responsibility and took up much of her time. Her underlings had been confusing papers all day and yelling was becoming a common thing to hear.

"Mr. Johnson's trip was cancelled; he doesn't have use for that key—Separate, Garrett! They're going at different times now. And you can't just use the same key, no!"

_Portkeys to Paradise_ was among the many Muggle-equivalents to travel agencies of the wizarding world. True to its name, it dealt mostly with portkeys, but certain departments worked in the Floo Network. Because portkeys had to be authorized by the Ministry of Magic, naturally one department was assigned to work from and with the Ministry. The cells included northern and southern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, the Pacific and Atlantic. They served as transportation for vacations and business trips. Lately, the amount of customers had doubled—many people wanted to get far away from England. The Pacific and Northern European cells had been overflowing with business. Owls were flying in from every direction and they were forced to hire out for a new position whose only task was cleaning windowsills.

It was surprising to Lia how much free time she _hadn't _reserved for herself. The next few weeks consisted of nothing but labor and Order meetings. Work rode her like a pack mule and she decided to set up something with her favorite cousin to relieve her mind of the stressful responsibilities. It was between scolding Harris for failing to redirect an incorrectly sent order to the Atlantic cell and talking to the Ministry directory supervisor for authorization to reuse a portkey that she wrote her letter to Silvia.

_Dear Via,  
It's been awhile since we've talked. Work has been a living hell and I really need some time off just to relax. I haven't eaten a decent meal in over a week. If you're able to do something—maybe go out for dinner, soon preferably. I'd really appreciate the excuse to get out.  
Ravenous, Aurelia_

Once she'd called about a public owl and strapped the letter to his foot, she was back to work.

"Aurelia! Did you hear about the murder?"

Daniel Landon was an energetic, outgoing, blunt young man just out of school. His bright blonde hair stuck out perfectly against all the brunettes in the building and his piercing blue gaze cast everyone intrusive looks. He left no spaces in the rumors he circulated, but filled in the untold with his own hard-believed portions.

"In the paper it said the damn Death Eaters got to Fenwick in his sleep," Daniel said mater-of-factly, "but they're lyin' of course."

"And how would you know that?" asked Aurelia as calmly as she could manage.

"Those creeps would want to hear him screaming. It's like a craving they have. If they're not satisfied that their victims have experienced excruciating pain, the kill wasn't worth their time. And from what I've heard of Benji, they'd have been lucky to open the door without wakin' him up."

Landon's perceptions usually possessed a fairy-tale characteristic, but for some reason she knew that this time he was not making things up.

- - - - -

Silvia Colton was realizing how agonizingly boring her job as a Ministry Tracker could really be. A Tracker was essential to the maintenance of the Ministry of Magic. Trackers were in charge of reading over and analyzing the department reports that were sent daily. Effectively a Tracker learned about everything that happened in the Ministry by simply reading a piece of parchment. They shortened the reports if needed so the Minister did not have to read some new wizard's nervous scribbling.

A downside of the job was that some reports tended to be extremely dry, while others were juicy with gossip or recent accounts. After her late night rendezvous, the Ministry was positively buzzing. Hourly reports had been arriving from the Aurors and they left out several details that she herself would have included, although her opinion of the subject was supposed to be biased.

She flicked a navy lock out of her eyes before taking the quill from her mouth to dip it once again in the ink. She jotted down a few more lines from the report before rolling it up and inserting it in the tube beside her desk that carried the finished reports directly to the Minister's office. The tubes, though highly effective, tended to cause a certain mischievous quality to emerge through the Trackers. Several highly inappropriate 'reports' had been sent to an irate Minister's office. Silvia of course was not one to send any reports of that kind, she merely encouraged the idea…by starting it.

Silvia reached for another report as something flapped in front of her and stuck a scaled leg in her line of sight. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out an owl treat, giving it to the bird while she unrolled the parchment. She stroked the bird's feathers while reading over the note from her cousin.

"Could you stay here for a moment? I promise a few more treats for your troubles," Silvia cooed to the owl that hooted excitedly at the prospect of more food. She took out two dishes and deposited them before the bird. She took out some parchment and re-inked her quill again.

_Dear Aurelia,  
In fact, I haven't had anything that would qualify as a meal in at least a week either. I would be delighted to join you in some good eating. Believe me, I would appreciate a reason to leave work early—or at all at the rate this day is going. I think plans with my terminally ill cousin who might not live to see next month counts as one, wouldn't you think? Just give me a time and place, luv. The sooner the better.  
Adoringly, Silvia_

Silvia rolled up the parchment and was about to attach it to the owl when there was a loud bang and smoke billowing from a desk not far off. An office door slammed open to expose an extremely angry face. "Simons! What have I told you about these things!"

"S-s-sorry s-sir, it s-s-slipped," the frightened young man stuttered.

She shook her head at the boys' misfortune. She was trying to remember what she had been doing previously when a report was shoved on her desk. "Need this done, as soon as possible."

Silvia waved him off and set to work on the report in front of her. She was chewing absentmindedly on her quill tip again; it was a wonder to her still that she never received ink stains on her teeth. Time passed by and she took no notice, that was until something stabbed her arm.

"Bloody hell!" Silvia looked to her right to see an annoyed looking owl sticking its leg out. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. Got distracted."

The owl simply hooted lowly and shook its head watching her attach the letter she had written nearly a half an hour ago. She hoped Aurelia wouldn't be too busy to accept it now.

- - - - -

"Jealous is such an accusatory word. I like to think of it more as _protective_."

"It wasn't like she hit on me or anything," Sirius replied smoothly. His eyes, as they often did, were following her motions as she flittered about the room.

"Only because I dragged you away from that Muggle stand before she got a chance," Aurelia said as she flicked her wand at the dishes in the sink and they began to clean themselves.

"I was not _dragged_. I came when you called, like the obedient dog that I am."

"Ha! Obedient," she scoffed.

She continued to mindlessly clean her apartment, not much caring what she was doing, as long as it was productive. Even though she was not required to move, she continued pacing up and down the hallways of her newly furnished apartment. Sirius sat in the old armchair her father had donated to her cause and looked around.

"Still can't believe you told your boss your apartment was on fire," Sirius said in a disbelieving voice. "Expect you'll be issuing that excuse often."

"Often enough, if I can get away with it. I've already used up the dead grandparents ones. You only have so many, you know."

"That's why you start with the great-grandparents," he said knowledgeably. "So how much does it cost you, this place?"

She spun her wand hand's wrist expertly and the curtains in the sitting room rattled and shook, freeing themselves of dust. "It's not too bad, actually; my electrical bill in non-existent. Muggles use it for lighting and climate controlling the rooms. Why would I need to use it? All these wires, they confuse me."

"You shouldn't be burdened with Muggle matters, darling," he said, twirling his wand in his fingers while the room flickered from light to dark with each spin.

"I could invite the Quidditch World Cup to be hosted here and I wouldn't have to pay a thing," Aurelia voiced from behind the couch.

"Wouldn't you get in a little bit of trouble for that?"

"No—well, maybe for hosting the Cup," Aurelia admitted. "My landlord adores me, though. 'Never gets into any trouble. No mess, no broken windows, no flooding toilets.' The list goes on."

Aurelia continued her cleanup by pointing her wand at a pile of clothes and they began folding themselves into neat piles. "I do feel badly for the poor Muggles. Just yesterday all the lights went out in the building and wouldn't come back on. After twenty minutes, I got tired of hearing all the fuss they were making downstairs, so I fixed the problem," she confessed. "Also might have used a _tiny_ oblivion charm on the guy who was first in line for this apartment…"

"Breaking the law then, are we Lia?" he goaded, grinning.

"You won't tell on me, will you?" she asked, pouting her lower lip in an irresistible imitation of a five-year-old child.

"'Course not," Sirius replied, grabbing her hand as she walked past the armchair, he stood up and kissed her. "Then I wouldn't get to do _that_ for awhile and I'm not sure I can just quit cold-turkey."

"Could always visit me in Azkaban."

They leaned in to touch lips again, but before they got close enough they heard an odd clicking sound by the window.

"Doesn't it seem like we're always interrupted by _something_," Aurelia said, going to the window and taking the letter off of a brown owl's foot.

"It's you! You're the one who ends it. I'm the instigator. It's like you don't enjoy it as much as you used to."

"It was so much more fun at school," she explained, unsealing the envelope and scanning the letter as she spoke, "hiding from Woldrum in empty classrooms and behind suits of armor. The risk factor really made it more exciting."

"Always like to hear that. Can we visit Hogwarts this weekend?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face.

She smacked him across the arm with the envelope she held and muttered, "Dinner date's on then."

"With whom?" he asked skeptically.

"My cousin, Via. You remember her, right?"

"Kind of hard to forget," Sirius muttered darkly.

Aurelia chuckled.

"You're meeting her?" Sirius asked, worry lacing his normal speech.

"Yes, but I haven't decided where yet," she trailed off, muttering to herself more than speaking to Sirius.

"I don't know if it's a great idea to meet with her." He strode over to where she stood.

"Why not?" Aurelia was curious as to why Sirius would not want her to go to dinner with her cousin. His behavior was peculiar, as if she were putting herself in mortal peril. "Not like I haven't seen her yet."

"You have?"

"Before I so pleasantly bumped into you, yes." Aurelia was searching around for her favorite quill so that she could write a reply to Silvia. She was buried within her desk when she noticed Sirius still hadn't said anything yet. "Is it because of her friends?"

Sirius favored her with a hard stare before simply nodding.

"Would you feel better if you came with me?"

"Yes," he said, a little too quickly.

"All right, we'll double date then. I'm sure Silvia has plenty of guys to choose from."

Aurelia turned her back to fetch a piece of parchment and didn't see that statement received even _more_ unease from Sirius.

- - - - -

Silvia had left work a little earlier than necessary, claiming that she needed to take some time to recover from the brutal attack on Benji Fenwick. Truthfully, she wanted to celebrate with a certain dark haired man. She had apparated from outside the Ministry sniffling to appear smiling at her shared flat.

When a pair of rough hands covered her eyes, as was her customary welcome, she couldn't suppress her grin. She turned around to have Evan's arms encircle her waist as she stood on her tiptoes to teasingly kiss him on the nose. He in return crinkled his face before kissing her properly.

Silvia turned in his arms again and smiled. She loved coming home to this everyday; to see Evan with his dark brown hair dusting lightly over his eyes, standing there waiting for her. His chocolate eyes were absolutely smoldering and she couldn't help but admire the muscular build that his darkened body held. She was glad he always arrived before her; she wouldn't be able to wait long for him to show.

"You know what I found out the other day, luv?"

"Hmm?" Evan replied while inhaling the scent of apples that wafted from her shower previously that morning. It was a rather pleasant shower as he had decided to conserve water by joining her.

"I discovered that you are really a patron devil of seduction who takes the form of physical beauty to make the women folk fall madly in love with him," Silvia stated as she leaned back on his chest. She loved it when he would smell her hair, especially since his favorite place was right behind her ear—a place that made her go wild.

The dark haired 'devil' smirked. "Then there's only one question," he began and leaned his head until his warm breath was hitting the shell of her ear. "Is it working?"

"Absolutely," Silvia responded huskily. She tilted her head back to kiss him when an owl at the window caught her attention.

"Bugger."

She entertained the thought of releasing herself from his warm hold to let the owl in and give it a treat before letting it fly off but thought better of it. "This had better not be from work," she muttered while proceeding to drag Evan along with her to the window, snogging him in the process.

Let it never be said that Silvia Colton did not know how to multitask. As her tongue gave Evan's a particularly nice massage, she retrieved her own from the owl's foot and reached into the drawer where she held owl treats. She gave one such treat to the owl before letting it fly off and then close the window.

She slid a finger under the seal and unfolded the parchment inside, taking a quick gleam at the handwriting. It was not from work at all but from Aurelia about their dinner date. She decided she should probably attempt to read the letter, and therefore Silvia pushed herself away from Evan using his chest and leaned against the wall, breathing deeply.

_Dear Silvia,  
Is it all right with you if I bring along a date? You could bring your latest boy toy and we'll call it even. I was thinking seven o'clock tomorrow at that little restaurant in Diagon Alley. Can't ever remember the name. It's across from Flourish & Blotts, though. You know the one? It's casual, so don't worry about dressing up. We'll meet outside. Let me know what you think when you have the time.  
Pointedly, Aurelia_

She smirked at the mention of bringing her 'boy toy' and looked over at the object of her affections, who was for his part looking extremely forlorn at being left alone so suddenly. She grinned while sauntering back to him and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you up for dinner tomorrow night?" Silvia whispered in his ear.

"What's the occasion?"

"Lia's in town," Silvia answered.

"Your cousin?" he asked and received a nod. "Are you sure this is wise, Via?"

Silvia gave him a playful slap. "Of course it is. Aurelia is friends with Dumbledore's favorites. She'll have kept in contact with them, and through her we can gain some information. Besides, I'm supposed to bring a date."

"Dinner it is then," Rosier agreed before sweeping her off her feet bridal-style and carrying her towards their bedroom.

"Evan! Evan let me down! I have to send a reply." Silvia gasped out laughing. "Evan!"

Her protests were ignored since they weren't in the least heart-felt. She figured that she would just send a reply to Aurelia before tomorrow night to let her know she was coming with her boy toy.

- - - - -

They had been waiting at the door to get into the restaurant for twenty after seven. Sirius was sitting across from Aurelia at an outside table and was laughing while she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Stop it, I'm worried," she said, scowling. "What if Death Eaters—"

"No, I'm sure they're fine," he said, his eyes no longer held the faintest gleam of laughter. "Silvia can take care of herself."

Aurelia pursed her lips and continued to tap her foot on the pavement. Sirius smile returned and he got up out of his chair, moved around the table and laid his hands on Lia's shoulders, massaging and relaxing her tense muscles. She sighed and instantly relaxed. Sirius leaned over her chair to kiss her when they heard someone clear their throat. They both let out frustrated noises before looking behind them.

"We're not interrupting anything, I hope."

Silvia stood grinning a few feet away, Evan Rosier at her side, expressionless.

Sirius glared and said, "Of course you _are—_"

"—not," Aurelia corrected with a forced smile. She glanced to the left of her cousin and blinked. "Evan Rosier? Well, I see your taste hasn't changed, Via."

"I could say the same for you, Aurelia," Silvia remarked, looking over at the eldest Black child.

"We should probably head inside," Sirius suggested, his eyes still narrowed at the new arrivals.

They were seated at once and the menus were passed around. Not one of them spoke until their food magically appeared before them and it was only to tell the waiter Silvia's order had been mixed up. Conversation was void and the entire meal was nothing but skeptical looks and glaring. Any attempt to start conversation as quickly put to rest by the speaker's partner.

When everyone's plate was spotless, there were no more excuses to keep quiet, so Lia made one up.

"If you'll excuse me," she said, jumping up from her seat and heading in the direction of the bathroom.

Silvia made to follow, but Evan put a hand on her leg and made a look that said, "Don't you leave me alone with him."

"So," said Sirius, apparently attempting a stab at pleasantries, "killed anyone lately?"

Evan sneered, "If we had, you'd already know about it."

Silvia leaned back in her chair, at ease, and remarked, "You know, the only thing keeping us from making an easy job out of you is Aurelia. Lucky you two got back together."

"You don't know the half of it," Sirius said, but instead of his usual elate expression, his face was blank.

"I'm surprised you haven't told her yet," she said. It was as if something was tickling her underneath the chin and the idea made her smile. "It must make you feel horrible about yourself, keeping a secret like that from her."

"Let's ask the one with the most experience, shall we?"

They stared one another straight in the eye unblinkingly.

"How's Benji Fenwick, Black?" Evan said evenly, smirking as he did so.

"Happy, I'm sure. At least he's not living in fear of what might happen to him if he upsets his _master_."

Evan put his hand down on the table and this time Silvia prevented him from getting up.

"He's not able to think much about anything now, is he?" said Silvia, then she spotted Aurelia walking down the aisle to their table.

Sirius had heard the softening of Via's voice and knew they would soon be rejoined. He said, "Another time, another row."

"I hope I haven't missed much, since you were all speaking so enthusiastically when I left."

Aurelia sat down and the moment her back touched the seat she felt Sirius slide his hand to rest on the inside of her thigh. Her eyes widened for a few seconds before she heard Silvia say, "Yes, you missed our heated discussion…"

"Heated," Aurelia, repeated softly as Sirius' hand moved up her thigh. Silvia's voice had trailed off in Lia's mind and she didn't really care enough to ask what had just been said, for other matters obviously required her attention.

"I…uh—we have to go," said Lia. "Work in the morning and it really is getting late, you know."

"Um, yeah," Silvia said uncertainly, shooting a quizzical glance at Evan, who shrugged. "It was great seeing you again, Lia."

"Yes, really great." She smiled, but it was not originally meant for her cousin. "Write me. Anytime."

"I'll be sure to do that."

Sirius' hand suddenly disappeared as he got up and Lia quickly imitated.

"Dinner's on me," she said, about to reach into her pocket, but Sirius kindly obliged. He rummaged around as if he couldn't find her money when he had had it in his hand all along. He whispered into her ear, saying, "And desert's on me."

The only reason Sirius had put on that little display was to get out of the restaurant and distance themselves from Evan and Silvia as soon as he possibly could. It hadn't bothered Aurelia. She was glad she had been given a reason to get away. Having others around while Via and Lia spoke was just not something they were used to. What had they thought was going to happen? Their boyfriends would forget their childhood for one night and talk like they had been great friends. The dinner, she admitted, had been a complete disaster, but as for after-hours…


	9. Reunions of a Sort

_ Past_

**CHAPTER IX  
**

_Reunions of a Sort  
_

_  
Chacun pour soi. Vive la différence_. To each his own, long live the difference. 

Of course this phrase sounded better when uttered using the language of love. And when one's relatives were French, one was required to learn that language before being forced to visit them. This took up the majority of Silvia's summer.

It was the month after she had found out her Aunt Maggie had been killed and her mother insisted she meet her other cousins for the first time in a long time. Except going to France for the summer was not Silvia's idea of a good time. She had fully intended to spend it with Aurelia, helping her through the transition of losing her mother. Things changed, though.

There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with her cousins, besides the fact that there were eleven of them; six males, five females and four sets of aunt and uncles. Normally Silvia could have enjoyed France like the rest of them, but her defiance against her mother's will prevented her from succeeding amusement in the regular standards. Her only hope was that her cousins hadn't been permanently classified as rampant as a result of Silvia's influence.

Stepping onto the Hogwarts Express for the seventh time in her life, she icily brushed off the stares she was acquiring on account of her hair. Her previously long, ebony hair was cut short, so that it spiked out from her skull. But that was not the extent to which she had gone. It was also heavily tinted in a deep green against the blackness it held before. France hadn't changed her, just opened an outlet that she grasped readily.

Elizabeth had been shocked into at least five minutes of silence when she had seen Silvia's hair. After that she began bouncing around her like a rabbit, chattering with the other Slytherin girl's of their year. Silvia had shrugged it off in indifference. She had really only changed as she had to annoy her mother, but she found she was quite attached to the idea.

As she stepped into her friend's compartment, she knew she could count on the stupidity of Crabbe and Goyle.

"Something about you is different," one of them said.

Meathead Number Two nodded furiously while squinting at her. "I think she got taller."

"Yeah, that's it," Number One consented.

Lucius, who was sitting in the corner next to Narcissa, rolled his eyes wearily.

"Honestly! She changed her hair, meatheads," he said, seeming to have taken to Silvia's favorite nickname for the pair. It never ceased to cause a grin.

"OH!" the dumb duo chorused at the same time triggering everyone in the compartment to collectively sigh.

"I don't know how you two managed to even _pass_ your O.W.L.s," Silvia commented dryly.

"Bloody miracle if you ask me," Evan muttered.

It wasn't long until they reached the school and Silvia's fourth year at Hogwarts had officially begun.

- - - - -

Aurelia sat next to Lily and Emily in complete and utter silence. She had practiced this technique over the summer times aplenty while her father drank excessively and Romey took to locking himself in his room. He was bent on keeping his mind entirely focused on the loss, as were they all. Her father had, of course, gotten out of control a couple of times while drinking and Aurelia sported a black eye upon her return to Hogwarts. Romey had offered her a room in his new apartment, but she couldn't have just left her father all alone after what had happened, no matter how bruised and beaten she might become.

No one asked about her eye, which was unsurprising, but everyone was looking at her pityingly like she was a stray dog they had seen on a street corner.

The silence did not hold for long after Sirius and James arrived out of the entrance hall. Once they had been seated across from the girls, Sirius exclaimed, "Lia, where'd you get that shiner?"

"Got in a fight with the Giant Squid earlier. You didn't see?" Her usual sarcastic tone was lost to a soft, unemotional counterfeit.

"That's rotten luck," said James. "I'd have liked to see that kind of a fight you put up."

"I feel sorry for the Squid," said Sirius.

Lia smiled. She hadn't done so since last semester, before she had found out about her mother's accident. She wished everyone else could be as nonchalant about the subject as Potter and Black. They knew about her dilemma but tried to put a smile on her face anyway, which made her feel like a real person, not just some bruised ghost wondering through the day dwelling on unpleasant thoughts.

After the feast was over and Dumbledore made his announcements, the students got up from their tables to head to their common rooms, but Aurelia was taken aside by Professor McGonagall while her fellows filed out of the Great Hall.

"Miss Colton, would you like to see Madam Pomfrey about your eye?" she asked, a note of pity exceeding from her voice. Aurelia heard this and her frown deepened.

"Should I see her now?"

McGonagall replied, "I should think so. I doubt she has had any visitors yet. Yours would be a welcome sight, I'm sure."

So before Aurelia could follow her classmates up to Gryffindor Tower, she had to make a detour to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey stood anxiously, wringing her hands.

"One already!" she said as she watched Aurelia walk through the door. "Good gracious, what happened to your eye, Miss Colton?"

"When the train stopped, I fell on the compartment door," she lied. It had taken her the better portion of the trip to come up with a good enough excuse. Somehow she thought her broomstick going crazy and whacking her in the face was not believable. But Madam Pomfrey's job was not to evaluate excuses, it was to cure ailments and that is what she did.

- - - - -

There were certainly things about the fourth year at Hogwarts that deviated the schedule. A student was one year closer to their O.W.L.s and three years closer to their N.E.W.T.s. Some of their year had already started stressing over those very exams. Some could not have cared less.

Lucius and Narcissa were busy studying while Silvia and the other fourth years had some free time, which they were spending under the shade of the beech tree near the lake.

"Gryffindors seem restless lately," Avery noted almost gleefully. He had been itching for a confrontation for a week now.

Silvia gave him a disgusted look and said, "You need a hobby."

"I have a hobby," the Slytherin protested.

"Sure you do. Say whatever you want to make yourself feel better about not having one."

Silvia was idly picking pieces of grass out of the ground and breaking them into several small sections. Free periods were usually a nice break from classes—a time to catch up on homework, sleep, gossip— except this lazy day Silvia was absolutely bored out of her skull.

It was then that she spied a group of Gryffindors lounging under the shade of their own beech tree not twenty feet away. Silvia's eyes spotted Aurelia and she noticed the fading circle of the black eye her cousin had possessed. They had yet to meet and so she had not had the opportunity to ask her about what event had produced the bruise. It was then that a smile lit her face.

"Did anyone see the shiner Colton had? I don't really think you can get that from _falling_," Silvia said wickedly and loud enough for her cousin's group to hear. "Although falling on someone's _fist_ could do that quite nicely. Isn't that right?"

Her statement was returned with snickers and nods of approval.

Evans and Perkins glared her way, but Aurelia kept her face expressionless. "My shiner's not half as bad as that psychotic hair Colton's got. Think she went mental over the summer."

Her friends giggled girlishly.

"How's Charms class this year, Aurelia? How _do_ you manage to get such good grades in Charms? I never knew you liked them _that _small…" Silvia let the sentence hang in the air to let those listening interpret it how they would. She hadn't left much room for imagination, however.

"Your Potions grade has increased, hasn't it? Is that why you and Snape are such great _friends_?" Aurelia said casually with a smirk.

The two cousins had stood up and started walking towards each other, by the time they met in the middle, their friends had decided to follow. Silvia pushed Aurelia's shoulder so she staggered and Aurelia pushed her back.

"Want to say that to my face, git?"

"Love to—"

But before Aurelia could get the words out, she was pushed into the lake, splashing and flailing frantically because she hadn't spared herself a moment to gather her breath. Slowly, she rose to the surface and treaded until her feet reached the murky bottom. She heard laughter from both ends of the shoreline and notice the spectacle of people that had gathered at the water's edge. To her left, Silvia was standing, spitting out dirty lake water and looking livid. Apparently Lia had unknowingly pulled her cousin along with her. She splashed at her stark-faced cousin who seemed ready to start throwing knives.

They stood up ungracefully and looked at the shore where their friends were gathered. Potter decided to be a gentleman and offer the soggy Gryffindor girl a hand so he could pull her out of the water. Instead of taking advantage of this rare generosity he was offering, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the water beside her. Before long, the entire mob of fourth year students had jumped in voluntarily and were splashing about, dunking their friends playfully. It was also not long before they realized they were in mixed company and quickly made their way to opposite ends of the shore.

Silvia wrung out her robes while staring over at her cousin. Something seemed wrong with her, something was off. She doubled over and ran her fingers through her green hair several times finding it nearly dry. She loved that about her short hair.

"Well, that was…interesting," Silvia finally bit out.

Evan raised a skeptical eyebrow, saying, "If that's what you want to call it."

Silvia made a face and turned to see one of the younger among their group.

"Silvia, was it true?" he asked.

"Was what true?"

The kid visibly fidgeted. "What Colton said, about you…and Snape…"

Silvia's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly. Then she walked forward and shoved them back towards the lake. As the splash of contact rang through the grounds, Silvia waited for his head to break the surface. "Does that answer your question?"

- - - - -

It was a whole month before the girls could get together in secret and when they did, they were sure of what they were going to do. Although Aurelia knew it was a horrible thing to take a habit to, she needed to see, just once, exactly why her father acted the way he did when he drank.

Aurelia stood against the left side of the doorframe of Slughorn's office, Silvia on the right. They looked at each other with reassuring, nervous smiles as Silvia made to turn the handle after using _Alohomora _to unlock it. The door creaked open and they stood frozen in the doorway until Silvia pushed Aurelia into the room. It wasn't hard to find the three liquor bottles on Slughorn's desk. Two were full and one was half-empty and knocked over. The two girls stepped cautiously up to the desk and Silvia wrapped her fingers around one of the full bottles. Lia shook her head in protest but Silvia gave her a sharp nod and whispered in a barely audible voice, "He won't even miss it…trust me."

Aurelia looked over at the third bottle on its side. "By the looks of that bottle, I seriously doubt that."

"Lia," Silvia sighed exasperatedly. "You won't get anywhere in life if you play by the book all of the time."

The good-hearted Gryffindor was still eyeing the bottled liquor with apprehension. This only caused her Slytherin cousin to groan before she snatched one of the full bottles off the desk. That seemed to snap Aurelia out of her thoughts. "Maybe—maybe we should take the one that's half full."

"We can't get drunk off that," Silvia reasoned.

"Who said anything about getting drunk?" Aurelia asked, but Silvia didn't need permission or a second opinion. Lia rubbed at her forehead, already regretting her curiosity. Sighing, she whispered, "Let's go."

Silvia grinned and slung an arm around Lia's shoulders as they began to walk through the silent corridors. "I think you're going to be a friendly drunk."

"No one's friendlier than you, Via," Aurelia praised with a saccharine smile plastered on her face.

Silvia couldn't hold in her laughter as she pushed her cousin away from her softly.

"I'm taking that as a compliment."

"Whatever floats your boat," Aurelia commented while checking around the corner to make sure the corridor was empty.

- - - - -

The next morning, the girls woke up with blistering headaches and nausea unpleasantly tickling their stomachs. They had apparently slept over in the Room of Requirement, but the bottle of Sherry was dry and mysteriously a second one was lying beside it. Then Aurelia tried to think it out in her head and apparently Silvia came to the same conclusion.

"We went back and nicked another one!" she exclaimed, and immediately brought her hand up to her head as the loud gong that was Silvia's voice drummed at both of their eardrums.

"How stupid are we?" Lia whispered so she would not reawaken the painful throbbing in her head by mere sound. "We could have gotten caught by Woldrum or worse—ughhh—my brain hurts."

Silvia put a hand to her mouth while she coughed. "Merlin, I'm thirsty."

"Don't even think about stealing another—"

"No, I mean water," said Silvia, looking at the two bottles on the floor. "I _really_ need water."

Via blinked and sitting in front of her was a glass filled to the brim with ice-chilled water. She let out of a soft gasp and reached out for it almost in the same instant.

"Didn't know it worked that fast…"

Aurelia looked from the glass of water the room had produced to the two empty bottle of Sherry. "Silvia," she whispered as she tried to wriggle the thought from her clouded brain.

"Hmph," Silvia voiced as she had her jaded head buried underneath her arms in an attempt to muffle any noise in the room.

"Well, you know how the room just brought you a glass of water?" Aurelia received another grunt in reply. "Perhaps we didn't leave the room at all. Maybe it just procured another for us."

"Procured? _Procured_? How can you sound so bloody smart when, when I've got one of those Muggle fire mobiles running around inside my skull?"

Wordlessly, Aurelia handed her another glass which held a slightly steaming liquid. Silvia sipped at it cautiously, eyeing her cousin. When she felt some of the headache subside and found that noises no longer made her so jumpy, she grinned. "What's this miracle and how can I get a supply?"

"Hangover Potion. I make it for dad," Aurelia mumbled.

Silvia muttered something under her breath before pouncing on Aurelia. Then with a cheeky smile she looked down at her cousin.

"Toothflossing Stringmints?"

- - - - -

Severus Snape held no person on a pedestal. He rarely spoke well of another. He had no idols, no heroes. He barely recognized anyone else's talent but his own and thought no one had as great an intellectual view on the world as he did. The Dark Arts _fascinated_ this little grease-ball and it _unnerved_ his fellow students how obsessed he had become in his potion's book. Even his friends, or so he called them, took an actively concerned approach to his attitude by suggesting activities other than studying.

But he was not so delved into his brains that he forgot his two rivals, come to be known as 'The Gryffindor Gits', so named by his housemates. Potter and Black had kept up their taunting and name-calling throughout the years, however this year they were becoming a bit more creative. Spells were aimed his way in empty corridors and during meals Snape could hear spells whizzing past his ears but only missing by mere inches.

He was fed up with the immature weasels' behaviors and intended, by any means necessary, to subdue their attacks. He actually turned violent a few weeks into the month of November. Gryffindors would walk by and expect to hear some pathetic remark for their insults and end up in the hospital wing with shrunken ears or a nose three times its normal size. Aurelia and her friends knew to steer clear of him after Vouldora mentioned the disgusting oily smell in the hall and was forced to stay overnight in Madam Pomfrey's care.

Potter and Black were not frightened by Snape's little outbursts and regularly addressed him with a greeting of "Hello there, Snivellus," and a Bat Boogey Hex or some other such jinx. One day, they were not so lucky to get away with it. Professor Slughorn—irritated and somehow quite knowledgeable of a small display the boys had put on just before Care of Magical Creatures lessons that morning—provided them with two weeks worth of detention. It was an unjust and unseemly punishment for so small an incident in the Gryffindors' eyes. While they complained about it in the common room that night, both Lily and Aurelia sighed loudly.

Sirius turned to see them sitting by the windowsill, attempting to study for Transfiguration.

"Have something to say, do you?" he asked hotly.

"As a matter of fact—" Aurelia began, but allowed Lily to finish for her.

"You two are positively moronic. You truly believe that two weeks worth of detentions for all the things you've done this year is unfair? How can you even say that when after you left Slughorn's office you jinxed a second year Hufflepuff so he couldn't speak the rest of the day?"

Aurelia tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress a laugh. Lily turned and the half-smile Lia wore vanished quicker than it had appeared. The display was enough to make Sirius and James grin.

"So Lia, you think we should still have those detentions?"

"You should have double that!" Aurelia scolded. "Maybe more. Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves for dangling Severus over that pen of Crups. It was quite immature."

"Spare us, Aurelia! We saw you laughing," Sirius said, crossing his arms.

"That's not the point," she answered, lips pursed tight resembling a miniature McGonagall of whom she was _certainly_ unaware of imitating. "It's time you take responsibility for your actions. Stop pretending like your little incidents have never happened."

"Ho, hark who's talking!" James called out.

Aurelia stared at the two boys while the room around her went awkwardly silent. Everyone seemed to be baring their eyes into her and she could see by James' innocent expression that he hadn't meant what he had said. Lily touched her shoulder, but Aurelia quickly turned, grabbed her notebooks and papers off the table helter-skelter and stormed up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Her name was sympathetically called several times but she did not come back down.

Lily glared at Potter and Black, who continued to stand where they had been. James' eyes were downcast, Sirius' narrowed.

"You really have a way with words, James," she said as she packed up her things and headed up the stairs after her friend.

Not a day later, when the two boys had done absolutely nothing wrong, they were sent to Professor Sprout's office to receive another week of detentions. This happened with several other Heads of Houses and by Friday afternoon, the two troublemakers were booked solid until the spring without having reeked any havoc to deserve it. Sirius was ready for drastic measures—or a release of his controlled fury—and he knew who to take it out on.

They owed it all to Snape anyway. But what started out as a prank to scare the living _hell_ out of the poor kid soon became vastly more dangerous. James told himself his best friend would not be so stupid, but appointed himself overseer of the project, in case things had gotten out of hand.

He also managed to corner Snape after Potions the day before the 'accident' was planned to occur—the night of the full moon.

"Don't do anything Sirius tells you."

"I'm not planning to, thank you," Snape replied nastily and tried to side-step his adversary.

"He'll try to lure you there by telling you a secret so you can rat us out. Don't listen to him. I don't care if you find out really, I just don't want to be blamed for murder."

That word caught the Slytherin's dwindling attention. "What about murder?"

"You've been warned," James finalized and stalked off down the corridor, leaving a bitter rival behind in his wake.

- - - - -

Despite the good intentions of James Potter in this particular instance, some people are just too stubborn to be swayed.

A notorious Gryffindor _might _have suggested a certain grease-ball try to bypass a certain homicidal tree. Of course the notorious grease-ball seemed to ignore the blatant warning he was _supposedly_ told the day before, in favor of seeing his foes in detention once again. Being as all the supposed persons were boys, their behavior was typical.

Snape had been walking through the corridors out towards the lake with his nose stuck in a book, presumably on the subject of Dark Arts. That was until he heard his least favorite group of people walking down the same corridor.

The Marauders had it planned down the last syllable. To what extent they actually practiced that plan was entirely up to the unpredictable Sirius. The plan started by playing off of Snape's curiosity with only minor suggestions on their point.

So what if he was filleted in the process? All the better for them.

"Remus, Peter, did I tell you what James and I found out?" Sirius asked his friends as they slowly proceeded past Snape, talking loud enough so he could hear every word.

Remus' reply was rolling his eyes. He had told Sirius he would not be part of the game before the plan had ever been laid out but the spontaneous Marauder was determined to keep him in on the fun.

Peter, not knowing to what length the prank was prone to leap, shook his head at the question, then remembered he was supposed to talk, not gesticulate.

"Haven't heard a thing," he said.

"We heard there is a way to get past the Whomping Willow." The excitement in the Gryffindor's semi-hushed voice could easily have been labeled phony.

"Right," Remus said. "I doubt you two are going to try to get past—"

"No, Moony, of course not!" Sirius said, keeping his gaze in front of his feet and crouching down as if he really wanted to keep his secret a secret. "We're not going alone."

"What?" Peter asked in faked surprise, with a proud, but badly concealed, smile for remembering the right note at which to squeak. But Sirius decided just to keep walking. Now he was just making it up as they went and Peter had no idea what to say. They'd given him a script! What had happened to the script? "I…you'll get in serious trouble! McGonagall will—"

"Turn us into toadstools?" asked Sirius with a grin as he watched Snape's keen and attentive eyes hovering just above his book, watching them. "Yeah. Probably."

James was unusually silent during his friends' entire conversation. Sirius noticed this and immediately tried to include him. "Jamesie, don't you want to try to get past that homicidal tree with us?"

He shook the black fringe from his eyes. "I don't know about this Sirius. I mean, that tree is dangerous." James said the last portion while locking his eyes directly with Snape.

Sirius rolled his eyes and pushed his friend. "Who died and made you Remus?"

The mentioned party let out an indignant, "Hey!"

"Oh, sorry, mate," Sirius mumbled, his hand going through his hair as he attempted damage control from his previous statement.

Now that they had finished their mission and were far past Snape, the conversation was turning in a different direction. Meaning Peter would be left behind on all the statements made and James, Sirius and Remus would be due for name calling by the time they reached the end of the hallway.

"I hope something hits you," Remus replied loftily.

"You don't mean that, Remus," said Black. "Who else will rub your feet after a long day of studying?"

"James."

Sirius scoffed. "That boy wouldn't know a bunion from a common callus."

"Well, actually," James supplied, drawing out the last word.

Sirius widened his eyes. "Remus, is it true? Have—have you replaced me?"

"Yup."

Remus' face was void of any expression, belying no guilt whatsoever.

"Git."

"Prick."

"Prat."

"Nark."

"WAZOO!"

Three pairs of eyes flew to their raven-haired friend. James stood there with a goofy look on his face before rolling his eyes and walking past them. The remaining three shook their heads before following.

As the boys walked off, Sirius made a quick glance back down the corridor. Snivellus was nowhere to be found.

"Excellent," he muttered.

Peter turned, noticing the mischievous smirk. "What's excellent?"

"Slimy fish took the bait is all."

- - - - -

"It could very well be the last trip we ever take outside these doors," James said in a morose tone. "All together, anyway."

Peter looked absolutely terrified, which was just him being the stupid git that he was. Wormtail didn't realize where they were going or why. The sun was setting and the grounds were beginning to darken. Although Sirius had clearly stated several times during their 'fishing trip' what they were about to do, Peter was still quite lost.

"Right you are, Prongs," said Sirius. "Take a good look at this room, my friends, for we may never—ow!" Remus had thrown a rather large book in his general direction, which could not be described as a miss. "All right, let's go. Pete, get your tail out from between your legs. It's the full moon tonight."

"And that's supposed to cheer us up _how, _exactly?" asked Remus.

"Sorry, Moony."

"I guess I should be apologizing to you guys," he said sorrowfully.

"Kind of you, but unnecessary," said James.

"Yeah, mate, don't beat yourself up about it."

All four took a long look at each other, then shrugged off the unintended pun and walked out of the room.

Sirius had kept Remus and Peter out of the circle so that he could go through with the plan. His train of thought was that if his friends didn't know what he was up to, then they wouldn't have the chance to stop him _and_ they would blame him if something went horribly wrong. Everything was going well so Sirius really wasn't that worried about any mistakes.

"Padfoot, do you think it's a good idea?" asked James quietly as they walked down the corridor to the entrance hall.

It wasn't right, James second guessing their masterful prank.

"'Course I do. Wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think Snape deserved it, would I?"

"I know he deserves it but what if Snape really does get killed? What if Remus actually attacks him?"

"Than Snivellus becomes a werewolf," said Sirius apathetically, pausing to let the fact sink in. "Come to think of it, that'd be awful bad luck for Remus. He'd have to share the Shack with that grease-ball. Oh well, better just to kill him straightaway then, eh?"

After that statement, James gave up trying to persuade his best friend to do anything against his will on the subject. While it was played out, he would have to resort to interfering somehow. He wasn't really sure what he was going to do to get Snape out of the picture before the Whomping Willow crushed his bones, but he decided that he would figure that out when the time came.

Remus was beginning to feel twitchy after the sun set beyond the horizon and James made sure he was safely settled in the Shrieking Shack before he started down the stairs again. He heard Remus' howls as he passed through the entrance of the tunnel and looked back, catching himself before he ran back to make sure he was all right. He wasn't all right, he was transforming, and he would remain _not all right_ for weeks until this wounds healed. Then it was just another few short weeks until the cycle started up again.

James could hear the thrashing of claws against wooden floorboards and furniture violently toppling on its side and decided it would be best if he walked a bit faster.

Murder. What had Sirius been thinking? Had he actually expected Snape to come to the Whomping Willow and try to get inside the passageway without the four of them seeing? Trying to get past the tree would have been stupid enough. He would've had to have been—

"Snape, what the hell are you doing down here?"

—completely mental.

"It's none of your business," Snape spat, flashing him a look of abhorrence while behind his eyes was etched terror.

"Actually, it's sort of all my business," replied James. "How'd you even get down here?"

"Your friend showed me the notch in the tree and I climbed down. He told me not to go, he actually begged me not to, but I did what you told me to do. I didn't listen to anything he said."

"Come off it, you little—" There was a loud howl from the other end of the tunnel and Snape's eyes widened. "We'll talk about this later. Right now, run!"

Snape turned and sprinted towards the passageway and James followed only a step behind. They could hear paws pounding the dirt as they ran even faster. James was ten feet ahead of the Slytherin and chanced a glance behind him. Snape was struggling to keep up and Moony was only twice as far away as James was in front of him.

Deciding against his better judgment, Potter stopped, turned and ran at the werewolf. The grease-ball kept running, not looking back to see James deliver the on-coming creature a hard kick to the snout. Remus let out a yelp and tumbled to the floor, tripping over his own legs. James moved to stand from his fallen position on the ground, but an abnormally large paw rested on his stomach with claws that could, if extended a few inches farther, rip the precious organ out of his body.

Moony was opening his eyes and James had to think fast, which never resulted in good ideas. He slipped his hands underneath the paw and pushed it off of him, stood up and ran for his life, but not without receiving a thrash to the back. James felt the knife-like claw tear through his skin and howled in pain. Blood trickled down his back as he raced down the tunnel. When he finally saw the blessed light coming from the entrance and Snape scrambling to get out of the hole, he realized how close the werewolf was behind him. He heard a pair of canines clap shut in an attempt to sink into flesh.

"HURRY!" he roared at Snape.

James collided with his body and used all his strength to haul both the Slytherin and himself out of the passage. Before the events came back to him, Remus was locked in with a pile of wood from a levitation charm produced by Sirius. He stared up at his disgruntled friend, who pointed to the heap of black on the ground that was Severus.

"What is he still doing alive?"

- - - - -

Silvia had learned to enjoy several things at Hogwarts: the ageing Woldrum and his equally ageing sight, the House-elves in the kitchen waiting patiently to serve all ones taste-bud's desires, sending the first years through a rite of passage, the free period of History of Magic where no one cared enough to listen and the Hogsmeade trips that began in the fall. It was upsetting that the do-gooders of Hogwarts were more eligible for these trips than the troublemakers, but Silvia was delighted to know she had been permitted to go.

Sitting comfortably in a carriage, she was joined by Lucius and Narcissa, who had been growing steadily closer in the past three months. It disgusted Silvia to certain extents, but she was happy for them in other ones. They exited the carriage at the station and walked down the beaten path. Numerous amounts of their peers headed off to The Three Broomsticks, the Post Office, Honeydukes and Zonkos. None of these were their destination, though.

They walked down the last lane to the right. Going all the way to the end, the trio was met with an eaten piece of wood, painted with a severed wild boar's head and blood leaking from the serration onto the white cloth below it.

Shaking out her cloak, Silvia passed the grumpy old man at the bar with his long grey hair and beard. The small room had already assaulted her nostrils with a strong aroma of goats and alcohol—cheap alcohol. Moving towards the back of the bar she noticed a hooded figure with a particularly clean glass in front of them. Grinning, Silvia moved to sit next to the figure, while Cissa sat on their other side with Lucius flanking her.

Bellatrix threw back her hood to reveal her signature black hair and sharp features. She gave a small smile to her closest friends. She took out three rose pedals from her robes and pointed her wand at them. Three glasses as clean as her own appeared on the table. It had become tradition for them to meet at the Hog's Head. Unfortunately, the glasses there left much to be desired, as did the clientele. They had discovered that it was an excellent place to talk things over without their discussions being reported to someone.

"How've you been, luv?" Silvia asked cordially.

"Better than one would believe," Bella said, grinning mischievously. Slowly she held up her left hand which held a ring where only one ring was allowed.

Narcissa's eyes widened and she let out a squeal, jumping out of her seat to hug her sister mercilessly. "So you really weren't lying then! This is great, Bella!"

Silvia and Bellatrix exchanged a look. It took awhile after that announcement for things calmed down. Lucius and Narcissa had gone off, leaving the other two to their own devices. They walked down the darkened path towards the carriages that would take Silvia back to the castle. Bellatrix stopped her before she passed through to the station entrance.

"Do you still feel the same way you did the last time we spoke?"

Silvia favored her with a long gaze before nodding slowly. "Haven't changed."

"Then I might have someway that you can alleviate some of it. Rodolphus and I think we found something, but we have to check it out first," Bella explained in a slightly hushed voice.

"Send me something if it works out. I'll give it my own once over, although I trust your judgment."

Silvia's eyes crinkled with mirth while the rest of her face remained solid.

Raising her voice, Bellatrix turned her body outward and more inviting.

"I hope you have a good time back at the school. Be good and study!"

Silvia coughed out a "Not likely."

Bella smirked and surveyed her younger friend once again. "Never told you how much I loved the hair."

The green-haired girl gave a seductive smile while appraising her friend. "It was all for you luv," she said. She winked and sashayed away with a twist of her hips simply to hear the sharp laughter from her companion.

- - - - -

Aurelia nearly jumped ten feet in the air when Romey snuck up behind her in Hogsmeade that afternoon outside The Three Broomsticks. She slapped him across the cheek and then jumped into his arms. They talked in the tavern for awhile about what Romey had been up to, where he'd been and how we was after moving out. He told her he met someone at work and that her name was Mackenzie. He flipped out his wallet and proudly displayed a cute little picture of them hugging outside his apartment in London. They looked like the perfect couple, she'd told him.

Then, like the big brother he was, he warned her about going back to live with their father. Aurelia listened to his reasons with a look as though she was listening but once Romey was finished, she told him the same thing as she had previously. He again offered her a room in his apartment and again she refused.

He then told her the best news he had saved for last.

"I got on a pro team, Lia," he said, his face solid but eyes dancing.

"Romey, which?" Aurelia asked excitedly. He remained silent as she became impatient and shoved him into the back of the booth. "Tell me!"

"I got into…" his voice was soft until he raised his eye and shouted, "IRELAND!"

Aurelia screamed and jumped on top of him, rustling his wavy hair and kissing the top of his head. The words that followed were indistinguishable and Romey just replied by flashing his brilliant smile and hugging her.

Getting onto a pro Quidditch team was enough to knock the stuffing out of anyone, but getting on your favorite Quidditch team since you were five years old was an entirely different scenario—one that was enthusiastically voiced to the entire tavern and possibly the better portion of High Street as well.

**Authors Note:** We really appreciate readers and reviewers! Now if there was just some way we could merge the two... )


	10. Fear and Frustration

_ Present_

**CHAPTER X**

_ Fear and Frustration_

Aurelia's hat was tilted over her eyes so she saw only the black threads that held together the seams. Her vision being impaired, her other senses were heightened significantly. Hearing was all she really needed. Her arms were folded nonchalantly across her chest as she leaned poised against the rough brick wall.

Two pairs of footsteps pierced the silence and whispering voices, both male, sounded urgent.

One was course, but far from gruff. "The Dark Lord has his target. He's tasked Avery and Snape to take out Donavon, whose been aiding the Order. He trusts that his project is underway and that there have been no inconveniences."

"Of course not," a smooth voice replied. "The Dark Lord need not worry. I'm nearly finished. However"—his voice lowered two octaves and came out barely audible—"I require something which I'm not able to acquire on my own. The design is flawless, so I doubt he will have any objections to providing me with this."

"That won't be a problem. What do you need?"

"It's fragile, alluring," answered the smooth-voiced male. "More of a trinket than a necessity."

"So it is payment you require. What do you covet that the Dark Lord can provide?"

The smooth voice lowered once more. "Aurelia Colton."

At this, Lia grabbed her hat off her head and flung it across the alley at the smooth-voiced man. Once the speckles of white faded from her vision, she gazed at Remus and Sirius, who was holding her hat in one hand and twirling it around his finger. Both were grinning.

"It's called preparation for a reason!" she said, maintaining a cross tone. "When you_ prepare_ yourself for the real thing!"

"You never know, Lia," said Remus. "What if that really was a Death Eater's response? Would you take off your disguise and throw it at him as well?"

"No, I'd say this one took over his body," she said, pointing an accusatory finger at the latter of the two. "And stop looking at my like that Sirius!"

He straightened up but the grin did not disappear so quickly. He looked to Remus and said, "At least we know she can hear well enough."

"Of course I'll be invisible with James' cloak so I won't even have to worry about the disguise."

"Doesn't help to be optimistic, Lia," Remus said. "You learn that after a while."

"I'll be fine," she said, snatching her hat out of Sirius' hands. "I can do this. It'll be easy."

"Anything can go wrong," Sirius said, his tone making the hairs on Lia's head rise. "You're alone out there, luv. If you need help, you'll only have yourself"—that seemed oddly familiar to her—"Are you sure you don't want anyone to come with you? Remus and I have nothing to…Aurelia?"

She was looked past them, through them, without knowing, watching helpless as the nightmare came back to her. Standing in front of her was Dumbledore saying those exact words, and now Silvia was bent over her, wand in hand—

When she felt herself being shaken, she was knocked back to consciousness and reeled around. Her eyes slowly slid back into focus.

"You all right?" Sirius asked, his face showing concern.

"Fine," she lied. She shook her head. "I'll be fine…alone. Promise."

She let go of Sirius' hand after suddenly realizing she had been holding onto it quite firmly, walked out of the room—which had been disguised as a London alleyway—and down the hall to escape headquarters.

**- - - - -**

A constant pecking was being administered to the glass pane by a snowy barn owl. A navy head burrowed deeper into the warmth beside her, hoping the noise would cease. Unfortunately it didn't, and it forced a grey eye to open and spy the intrusion. Muttering to herself, Silvia pulled the sheet around her frame before standing up. She hobbled over towards the window, opening it and letting a cool breeze fill the room. She shivered slightly but accepted the package that was on the owl's outstretched leg.

The owl promptly flew off before the frustrated recipient could do anything against the messenger.

Scowling, Silvia set the package down and untangled the parchment note that was attached while still clutching the sheet with one hand. Her eyes were narrowed as she read the note.

_Silvia,_

_I thought you might like a little treat. It's quiet at the manor without Lucius home all the time. But I know that cannot be helped. Evan and you should come along some time. Maybe Bella and Rodolphus will join us, too. Enjoy the snack anyhow!_

_Love, Narcissa_

Silvia's eyes traveled over towards the package as she pondered its contents. Her curiosity won out and she undid the wrappings around it. The plain brown paper fell away to reveal a plate of her favorite dark spice treats, Cauldron Cakes. Annoyance framed the lines of her face. Cissa gave her some sort of sweet every few weeks, usually while she was at work and most often it was the same. This time she'd decided on early morning to for the delivery.

Her eyes spied the paper and set it alight to alleviate some of her frustration. She laughed as the fire danced before her eyes. Across the room Evan sat up in bed and looking at the woman who held a sheet to her chest.

"Via, put that out," he grumbled before falling back to the pillows.

She made a noise while rolling her eyes.

"_Aguamenti_."

Silvia turned back to the bed and crawled underneath the covers once again, leaving the package and note on the table.

Evan wrapped his arm around her waist. "What was that?"

"Cissa. She sent me a package."

"Of…?"

"Cauldron Cakes," Silvia replied, riled from being woken prematurely from her sleep.

"Figures they'd be from her. It's too early for a sane person to be awake," he muttered as his tanned face was met with the softness of the pillow underneath it.

Grey eyes refused to open. "So you think you're insane too?"

"Do I look like a Black to you?"

"Yes," Silvia replied, her head still nestled within the softness.

"And how do you figure that?" Evan asked, curious of the girl's logic.

Silvia smirked. "It's quite simple. Druella Rosier married Cygnus Black and pop comes three daughters. Therefore you are related through distant cousins and removals and so forth."

Evan's amused smile looked down at her while he was propped up on one elbow. "Have you been stalking me, Ms. Colton?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, luv," she said, opening her eyes to look up with a heavy gaze. "You would never catch me…_if_ I was."

"That's where you're wrong." Evan proceeded to release small puffs of air over her ear. "I could smell your perfume a mile away."

Silvia laughed and pushed away from Evan, running away from him to the shower to prepare to the day. She had a feeling it would be a rather long and tedious one.

- - - - -

_Try and stay focused, Lia. You'll run yourself into a wall._

Aurelia was walking slowly down Askin Street and interrupting her own thoughts by telling herself to remain on task, which she soon realized was paradoxical.

She had stored the invisibility cloak in her purse and her wand was tucked safely on the inside of her trench coat. Her heart was thumping and her eyes were sprinting back and forth as if paranoia had utterly consumed her rational judgment. Knowing no one was following her, she did not bother to turn around. It was nerves andshe had reminded herself of this continuously.

She crossed the street after quick glances to each side and strolled casually until coming upon a bent lamppost. As she acknowledged the post with weary enthuse and turned down a dark alleyway, a hand tapped her shoulder. Aurelia spun around to see a business man who had been, only a second before, trailing down the sidewalk ahead of her.

"Are you looking for something, miss?" he asked with a slight frown.

"No, no. I'm fine, thank you."

But he was not convinced as he peered down the alley. "Nothing down that way except thieves. You look like a respectable girl."

"I'm not doing any—" Aurelia began, but was unable to finish without making the statement sound any less appealing than he had thought to begin with. So she sighed and told him she had to visit her brother living in the trashy part of the city. It seemed to sway his opinion enough because he left her alone.

Walking down the alley made her feel uneasy, but she discarded her emotions and put on her game face. She unbuttoned her purse and pulled out the invisibility cloak. Draping it over her head and hugging the edges, she sank back into a shadowed corner and waited.

Lia heard, ringing in her ears, the sound of a new and absolute silence she had never experienced. She watched and waited behind the folds of the cloak and adjusted to the fact that she needed to reflect the silence she was listening to. Regulating her breath in soft wisps, she leaned against the wall like she had done only a few short hours ago during training.

This was the real thing. No games. No mistakes. No interruptions. She was alone.

The Death Eaters were coming. She could feel, if nothing else, their feet tapping the ground softly from both ends of the alley. They would meet right in front of her, just as she had planned.

She was having trouble opening her eyes, afraid that the lids would make some ear-piercing sound when she did so. Since her conscience pestered her about it, she kept them closed and listened as the footsteps came nearer.

"What is it now, Rosier? I'm sick of the trouble you keep bringing about and quite frankly the Dark Lord is, too."

That was a voice unfamiliar saying a name quite familiar. She risked cracking an eyelid to find Evan Rosier and Walden Macnair standing but three feet in front of her. Before she could release the gasp that was intended, her hand shot up to her mouth and clasped firmly over it.

"He's in a bit of a rut, though, I should say," Evan replied. "With all this talk of dominating Britain yet he can't find the things he needs to follow through. Sounds like a broken promise to me."

"Do not speak ill of the Dark Lord, smartass."

"I don't insult him, pansy. I kindly offer information to His Mercifulness if he should decide to assign me a task. I haven't received payment either, now that I think about it."

"Tell me what you know."

"Nothing, unless I get a task."

"You will deny the Dark Lord your intelligence?" Macnair snarled. "It wasn't much to begin with, I admit, but he will certainly be hearing from me."

"I do hope so." There was not the slightest sense of fear in the man's voice, which was undoubtedly the reason for Macnair's hesitation.

"He will graciously grant you a task, if you would not mind a bit of dirty work."

Aurelia was disgusted at the authentic smirk displayed on Evan's face. "Splendid. My favorite kind."

Macnair sniffed indignantly. "You'll be assigned at the next meeting."

"Glad we had this little chat, Macnair. Be seeing you."

"In due time, Rosier."

She waited five minutes in the same stone-still position to make sure they had left until she tore off the clock and stuffed it in her purse. Closing her eyes tight, she apparated outside of headquarters and as soon as she was there, she headed for the front door.

They would have told her. If they had known, they would have told her Evan was a Death Eater. At the same time she could not stop thinking about Silvia and worrying that if she didn't know who her boyfriend really was, Lia would have no choice but to tell her. Silvia would go insane by being fooled like this. By then she had even contemplated the possibility of Via knowing Evan was who he was. Silvia had always hung around troublesome people and bad boys were her favorite to play with.

She was inside headquarters, rushing past a few members whom she did not recognize and came to the study, inside of which a couple was talking to Dumbledore in hushed, panicked whispers. All three looked up as the door flung open and Lia let out an exasperated gasp for air.

"_Evan Rosier is a Death Eater?_"

- - - - -

Silvia sat at the quaint round table in the commonly overlooked cafe. She had received a memo from her boss directing her to meet a person of substantial fortune. Supposedly the benefactor had given sizable amounts several times. To keep the donations flowing, the donor had requested to meet someone from the Ministry, specifically the Trackers. Silvia, being the flamboyant that she was had been chosen to entertain. This didn't go over so well with the woman in question. She could say with certainty that several dead rodents would arrive at her Department Head's doorstep within the next few days.

At the present, she was waiting at the requested spot for the mysterious person. She even brought a yellow rose, for laughter's sake. The setting felt so much like she was meeting some blind date a friend had set her up for. Narcissa would be the likely suspect; her intentions were always good like that. But the setting would have been influenced by her sister, knowing full and well that Silvia would hate it once inside. The rose had been too much temptation to resist.

The door jingled as a passerby walked into the shop. Their booted feet made a clicking noise against the hardwood floor, but they and the noise stopped right before Silvia's table. When they sat down, Silvia looked up into the mischievous eyes of her friend, Bellatrix.

"You whore."

"Nice to see you, too," Bella replied while settling in her seat.

Silvia crossed her arms and fixed the other woman with a cold stare.

"You should be thanking me." She shifted her dark hair to fall over her shoulder while her cloak still fell in such a way that she found exasperating.

"For?"

"Improving your day, considerably."

Bella seemed to think this explained enough for her friend.

"You wish, luv," Silvia scoffed and then paused to think over the suggestion Bellatrix had just uttered. "Actually, I suppose you did. I half expected this to be a meeting between me and some soddin' bag."

Bella couldn't help but laugh at the term her friend often used to refer to those with more in their bank accounts. "Not that you're much better…"

Bella's beautiful features were contorted into a rather unattractive face. She ignored the comment about if 'that was the face she showed her husband' and stayed silent for a few seconds longer. Suddenly she stood up and looked down at Silvia. "And I was even going to invite you in on some fun."

"What? Why didn't you say so?" Silvia collected her things with a wave of her wand and then twirled her cloak to fit snuggly around her shoulders. She gathered her navy tresses from her face and to the top of her head.

Bellatrix laughed as she walked out of the cafe while explaining the activity.

- - - - -

A knock resounded through the apartment. It was enough to make anyone irritated, especially someone who had previously been enjoying a particularly good dream. Grudgingly she opened the door with a scowl fixed on her face. The scowl melted to a half smile when she saw her cousin before her.

"Well, what brings—"

Silvia never received the chance to finish the sentence because Aurelia pushed straight past her. Her jaw was set, her face stern while worry was causing slight lines across her otherwise flawless face.

"Lia, what are you doing here?"

"You seem grumpy. Did I wake you up or something?" Aurelia immediately began to look around the foyer. She crouched down to look under the table. When she found nothing of interest she stood at her full height once again.

Silvia watched, amused and confused at her cousin's antics.

"Napping, actually."

"Sorry about that," Lia said distractedly and continued to inspect under every crevice and crack. Once satisfied, she moved towards the main room, stopping in the hallway to look back at her cousin. "Is Evan here by any chance?"

"You think we live together?" Aurelia admitted a disbelieving snort. "All right, you caught me!"

If Silvia had been confused before, she was positively lost by now.

Her cousin charged into the next room and surveyed beneath any and every surface in her vicinity. Lia even chanced to look behind one of the paintings Silvia had put over a charred spot on the wall. When Aurelia moved towards another room, Silvia decided that she had had enough. She wanted answers, not more questions.

Grabbing her cousin's wrists, she pulled her towards the kitchen and pointed at a stool until Aurelia assented and seated herself. Silvia let out a sigh before reaching for two mugs of coffee.

"Lia, what the hell is going on?"

"Hmm…" Aurelia was sipping absentmindedly from her mug while observing the kitchen. She avoided looking at her cousin. "What, that? I'm just paranoid."

"Bull shit."

Aurelia made a face. "Vulgar, Via."

"You love me anyway. And don't change the subject! Why are you checking my apartment like I stole your favorite shoes? …They're in the closet, by the way."

Expecting some sort of acknowledgement of the jest, _suffice it to say_ she was disappointed when none came.

Silvia drank her coffee as she watched her cousin visibly fidget. It was almost as if she was fighting with herself about whether to offer Via the information or to leave her in the dark. She hoped that she would choose the former.

"There is no easy way for me to—your boyfriend's a bloody Death Eater!"

Aurelia's hands flung over her mouth. Silvia guessed that she had designed a very carefully worded speech, all planned to drizzle the unbelievable truth down on her cousin until she was finally drowned. She acted shocked and confused, a combination she had long since been prepared for. The thing was, the shock part wasn't an act. There were only two explanations Lia had to knowing about Evan.

"I'm so sorry you had to find out like this, Via," Aurelia whispered through her fingers.

"How do you know that?" she said cruelly, playing it up.

Silvia couldn't help herself. She might have overdone the realistic surprise factor when she yelled at Aurelia, demanding how she knew who Evan was and accusing her of never liking him in the first place. By the end of the farce, tears were streaking down both girls' faces, but they were silent.

"I'm sorry…"

Silvia watched as her traitorous cousin walked out of her apartment, cursing at herself violently for not realizing her true allegiance before. And as she watched the door shut tight she couldn't help but utter a watery, "I'm sorry, too."

- - - - -

It felt uncommonly cold in the dank rooms where Voldemort's followers gathered. Often times a Death Eater would not notice, having lost so much of their humanity already as to be beyond caring. But Silvia had never lost her humanity—she had indeed embraced it. It was a fundamental of human nature: to love, to kill, to feel emotions. This day, however, she felt a hollow inside of her and it was a hollow caused by her errant cousin.

The fact that her cousin had somehow found out that her lover, Evan, was a Death Eater meant that either Aurelia had been fed that material by her _own_ lover or that she was a member of that damned order. The Order of the Phoenix was against everything that Silvia stood for. They were wizards, but those her comrades named 'blood traitors'. The Order allied with and protected Muggles, the filthy scum that would do no one any good. Look at what happened in North America! One gifted individual had been careless with her wand and _masses_ of their kind started genocide against all witches and wizards. It didn't matter that they could defend themselves against burnings; Muggles had evolved with new toys. They had to be stopped before they realized the truth and took to exterminating the magical community.

Others did not understand that simple fact, though. Silvia doubted that they ever would.

She stood against the stone, her back pressed firmly to the cold, letting it cool her head. Her mind had been in a constant turmoil since she had learned of Evan's apparent wrongdoings from her cousin. Little did Aurelia know that she partook in the same activities.

The two heavy wooden doors burst open and everyone in the antechamber immediately sank to a knee with their head bowed. A figure walked through their ranks, his black robes billowing behind him. He sat down in the throne-like chair at the head of the chamber and a haughty voice commanded, "As you were."

All in the hall rose and took a position to look at their leader. Most looked around him and not directly into his eyes, but a select few choose to gaze boldly into those bloody depths. One such was Colton, a navy-haired woman against one of the walls. Briskly, the lord in his throne waved a hand, signaling someone to step forward. In response, a dark-skinned and even darker-haired man stepped forth. Satisfied, the red-eyed man once again spoke.

"I believe you have something to share, do you not, Rosier?"

"That I do, my lord," he replied, his dark eyes staring into the crimson ones before bowing. Then he turned to address the others in the room. "Recently, I was informed that the Order had recruited a new member. It turned out to be of little surprise, as Dumbledore likes to stick with his favorites. He chose Aurelia Colton."

Silvia forbade herself any movement to display her emotions. Her expression was as cold and as hard as ever and her posture solid. She stared directly at Evan as he said those words. She blinked once before turning her gaze to her lord. She ignored the curious glances and almost-silent whispers. The Dark Lord's unforgiving eyes stared into hers. He gave a small nod before turning back to the general assembly.

"Very good, Rosier. It is always better to have an advantage against our adversary."

Voldemort allowed Evan to return to the background and the next person stepped up to announce information they had gathered that was relevant to the cause.

If it was minutes or hours that passed by, Silvia was not sure. Her mind was in a constant state of uproar. Yes, she had known Aurelia was in the Order. But she had somehow perceived that she could avoid anything happening directly to her cousin. Maybe ensure she was locked up at her uncle's house or make Aurelia an impromptu visit to her brother's. Whatever the solution, she would have thought of it. Now that it had been publicized, her safety was hopeless. Again, she felt the hollow.

Her thoughts were finally broken by the sound of her name. She strode from her spot to kneel before the Dark Lord. She heard someone do the same on her right. Under her navy fringe she saw a body she could not mistake. Silvia's eyes looked forward again, waiting for instructions. Instead she felt cool fingers slip underneath her chin and force her grey eyes to meet that of her master's.

"I have often wondered what made your eyes so cold," he said, his voice was no more than a whisper. It could be described as a low hiss made by a snake. There were moments such as this where Voldemort's humanity would shine through his exterior. They were rare in form.

Beside her, Evan's hand clenched in a barely noticeable action.

The moment passed without incident as Silvia did not respond. The Dark Lord simply rose to his full height once more and looked over his followers with a patented stare. "I would like the two of you to dispose of Caradoc Dearborn. He has long since been a thorn in our side."

"Yes, my lord," they both answered in unison.

He nodded and then called others up to receive their own assignments. Silvia left the room and walked down the halls, knowing well that Evan would catch up with her soon enough. Her heels clicked throughout the stones that made up the flooring. The walking was soothing to her nerves.

That was until a hand grasped her shoulder with an austerely voice to go with it.

"Silvia, it's so nice to know that your dear cousin will finally find her place. In the ground."

Silvia's eyes snapped together to glare at the greasy head of Severus Snape. "I doubt anyone cares for your opinion, Severus." She grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back, before, is under pressing him against the wall. She moved so that she could whisper into his ear, "Where _you_ belong is under my foot. Don't. Try. My. Patience."

She released him and stalked down the rest of the hallway. She felt another hand on her elbow and she spun around, her wand at the ready. "I thought I told you to—"

"Told me to what?" Evan asked curiously. His grip was still firm on her elbow, keeping her in place. Silvia had yet to lower her wand.

"Never mind."

Seeming to accept this answer Evan nodded. "Then we should probably leave."

"Let's go."

- - - - -

Men fear death as a child fears darkness. For the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. It is the reason why some steal themselves against truths such as wisdom and honor. They cannot bear the outcome brought on by them. But darkness strikes fear in hearts for the reason that it is the time that numerous individuals decide to complete an unsatisfactory task.

Death Eaters were no different. In fact they seemed to revel from the fear darkness and its presence inspired in a victim. It was intoxicating, addicting and utterly sating. Silvia loved the vastness brought on by darkness. It was her hideaway and her solitude, her element. And she held no qualms about being one who preformed discouraging deeds in that blackness. In fact for her, it was almost better that way.

Such was the case that night when they were set to silence one Mister Dearborn. She was crouched outside of the man's residence, waiting for him to approach. It was a nice area. The cliffs near his house were an excellent vantage point for any romantic evenings he could have planned.

"You're angry with me," a low voice murmured near her ear, the breath playing games across her cartilage.

"And why's that?" her voice was cold even to her own ears.

Evan rolled his eyes, although she wouldn't have noticed it in the darkness. Nor was she looking at him. Her eyes were trained on the house. "Aurelia."

Silence stretched between the couple. Silvia tried in vain to calm her emotions from doing anything rash.

"You're damn right I'm angry."

She chanced a look at the man beside her. Her eyes were already narrowed to slits, leaving little of her grey irises exposed.

"Are you going to elaborate on that fact?"

"No." Silvia noticed a light in one of the bedrooms. She stood up and went towards the house. Her steps were sure but quiet as she stalked towards the rear of the house. Behind her there was a barely audible groan before Evan was following her. Her hand clasped the handle of the back and it gave beneath her touch. "Sloppy," she muttered to no one in particular.

Continuing into the house she approached the stairs. Her feet were just ascending them when she felt something on her elbow. Her head turned.

"What?" she hissed.

"You can't keep avoiding the issue, Via," Evan said quietly.

"Watch me."

She pulled her arm from his hold before completing her journey of the stairs. She stalked down the hallway, briefly letting her hand touch a handle or two before moving on. She reached one in the middle and stopped. She waited for Evan before bowing and motioning towards the door.

This time she could see his eyes roll before he tested the brass knob. His fingers wrung it and the wood opened. He walked inside and she followed.

"What's the meaning of this?" a voice demanded from inside the room.

"You are Mister Dearborn, are you not?" Evan asked cordially. By his manner it did not seem that he had snuck into the man's house uninvited and unwanted. It was more like he was attending some sort of social event and wanted to thank the host for his hospitality.

"I am, and I would like you get out of my house."

A smirk slid across the dark-skinned man's features. It was like a cat looking down at a trapped mouse. "I am afraid, Mister Dearborn, that that will not be possible."

Silvia walked out from behind Evan, having been forgotten in the exchange. She drew her hand from her robes and produced a sharpened knife. With a practiced ease, she drew it over the man's throat, feeling the warm and sticky lifeblood flow from his arteries and onto her fingers. His body collapsed upon itself and lay gurgling on the floor. Cold eyes stared down at him waiting until his eyes died out.

"He would have found out eventually," Evan voiced while he went to check the man's vitals to ensure that he was no longer with the living.

Wiping the blade on the man's jacket, she let out a frustrated breath. "Drop it, will you?"

"I'm not deterred that easily."

"Would be nice if you were," Silvia moved to position herself at the man's feet while her partner moved to his shoulders. They both picked up the respective parts with the same heave and began moving the man out of the room and down the hall.

"He didn't _have_ to know."

"Of course he did. He would have found out from someone else sooner or later. No matter what those stiffs are trying to teach your cousin, stealth is not her most favorable attribute."

His dark eyes were hardly discernable in the darkness.

"I would have found a way," she ground out from between her clenched teeth. They had already made it down the stairs and out of the house. "Besides, stealth isn't your best attribute either."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"What does it sound like to you?" Silvia challenged.

"A load of shit," Evan pointed out bluntly. "We release on three." He noticed Silvia nod in turn. They swung the body back and forth and on the third swing released it to plummet to the watery depths beneath.

Silvia brushed her hands on her robes. "So long," she said, blowing a kiss in the general direction of the plummeting corpse. "Aurelia knows you're a Death Eater."

"How?"

"Does it really matter? She's in the Order, she would have found out eventually." Silvia sounded disgusted whenever she so much as mentioned the organization. "And you know what? By giving everyone that little tip-off, they might just ruin any chance I had of using her for information! Do you know how we could benefit from learning more about them?"

Evan caught her hand that was currently poking him repeatedly in the chest. He pulled her closer to him and used his height to look down on her. "And what if she was thinking the same thing? Won't she find it odd that you don't up and leave me upon that enlightening news?"

"What makes you think I haven't?" Silvia tugged upon her hand. When that proved unsuccessful she tried to push him away from her with her other hand. "She left in such a state that made it clear I do not believe her accusations against you."

In response, Evan merely captured her other wrist. "And what happens when others of the Order reveal that _you_ are a Death Eater? We already know that Black knows. What's to keep him from telling her in one of those sickeningly sweet moments they have together? What happens then, Silvia?"

"I kill him."

"That's not a solution and you know it," Evan chastised lightly, knowing just how much Silvia really would enjoy inflicting pain upon her cousin's sweetheart.

"Aurelia would not believe him. She would come to me and I would be able to talk her around," Silvia knowledgably pointed out.

"That doesn't solve the problem of what her Order friends will end up doing with or without her," he said, his voice holding no emotion while his eyes bore down upon her. "Or what will happen afterwards. Something will have to be done about her, Silvia. She's best mates with Dumbledore's chosen ones. It was bound to happen and she'll face the same thing as her friends."

She met them with contempt.

"Don't tell me what to do, Rosier." She finally broke free of his hold on her although it had been lessened considerably. "She's like a sister to me. I would have found _a_ _way_," she repeated softly but with enough malice in her voice to not be taken lightly.

Then Silvia simply walked off and disappeared with a small noise. Dejected, Evan let out a long exhale of irritation. Silvia really was too stubborn for her own good, especially when it came to Aurelia. Her cousin was the only family that she really felt any attachment to. And that would be a difficulty for her, now more than ever. Her cousin's affiliation with Dumbledore had…complicated matters. He just hoped that it would not hinder her in any way when the time came.

He disappeared, leaving only the darkness and the waves crashing down far below to disturb the night. Somewhere in those waves the man who had once been Caradoc Dearborn was slowly sinking towards the sandy depths.

* * *

**A/N:** Sadly we still have received only two reviews. We would really...reallllly appreciate more, bad or good! 


	11. Different Faces, Same Heart

_ Past_

**CHAPTER XI**

_Different Faces, Same Heart_

"And you truly believe you will do best in the businesses of the wizarding world?"

"Something in me just screams, 'You're not cut out for healing!'" Aurelia said smartly. "I think it has to do with death. Not the thing I want to sink my teeth into—and I don't mean that in a literal sense, Professor."

McGonagall pursed her lips in her signature fashion. "Have you considered other courses? Perhaps a job in the Ministry would suit you."

"I'm quite certain I'm the business-type, Professor," Lia said, beginning to slouch in her chair.

"Would you take up your family's business at Otis and Crevitts?"

"That would require me to learn healer stuff, right? Then, no, I don't plan on it."

"Where do you plan on working, then?"

Aurelia looked out McGonagall's window and gazed at the beautiful green grounds that lay beyond the glass. She wished eagerly to be out there, or in her dormitory. Anywhere but here, discussing her future with her Transfiguration teacher. It was quickly becoming a bore. Lia didn't know a thing about her future and didn't _plan_ on doing anything. All she knew was that she didn't want to be a Healer and she could not go another term of that damn Divination class. Why she had been stupid enough to attempt to pass the final exam, she had no clue. But now, she was stuck with it.

The head of Gryffindor house suggested a few activities in business that might have interested Lia, so she agreed to traveling often and leadership roles. After McGonagall's interesting observations and finalized title for her to become the Muggle-equivalent to a travel agent, Aurelia gratefully stepped past the doorframe of the office and past fellow Gryffindors in line for the dreaded Job Search. At least it was dreaded by Aurelia. Other students seemed to enjoy sharing their future with a near-stranger.

"How'd it go?"

Sirius was leaning against the portrait of the fat lady when Aurelia jumped up the staircase.

"Ugh," was what was emitted from her throat.

"That bad, huh?" he asked.

"I can't even begin to express my agony."

"Do tell—" Sirius lifted both arms and made his hands hover around an imaginary crystal ball in imitation of the Divination teacher they all loved so dearly. "What is…your…future?"

Aurelia smiled and pushed his shoulder playfully. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Before he could put in his two cents, she had turned and headed up the stairs, unable to see Sirius' grin.

Despite the innoxious attitude she had displayed for the first four of her school-spent years, Lia had grown to become somewhat unruly and carefree. No one quite knew the true reason, but it was undeniably Silvia's influence.

And Black was not particularly her favorite to tease, though she knew he enjoyed it when she did. As did all the other boys of their age, and some younger…and some older. She wasn't very picky as to whom she gave her attention to and the male population of Hogwarts didn't seem to mind either. Over the summer, Lia had picked up a highly notable flirtatious quality.

It neither alienated the relationships she had recently acquired nor bothered ones of old, which pleased her. Lily and Emily had changed as well, though not so much as their friend.

- - - - -

Her fingers were void of any tremble as they placed the slip of paper in the allotted spot. A puff of air blew the strand of reddish hair from her face. It was proving to be a distraction to her concentration, concentration that Silvia needed. Somehow her fingers sought and found another card, before letting it settle in the desired position.

Footsteps reached her ears as she placed another card in its place.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Grey eyes snapped up to look at the form of Severus Snape. "What do you want, prat?" she asked harshly, irked at being deterred from her _mission_.

"We have a free period and _this_," Snape motioned down at what lay before her, "is what you're wasting it on?"

Silvia sneered at him, choosing to sit back and not interrupt the table where her project sat. "I am a girl of mystery. And you're fired, by the way. Even though I don't remember hiring you as a _governess_…"

"Why you…I ought to…" Loftily he reached into his robes for his wand, having found himself incoherent to forming a sentence.

"I would advise against that action," Evan's voice floated over from the other side of the table where he resided, near the fire. "You're not going to like the result, Severus."

Snape made a face at the other boy, but stopped his grab for his wand nonetheless. It was true; you didn't cross Silvia Colton if you could avoid it and it certainly wasn't worth it over _this_. "You realize this is ridiculous right?"

"She is fully aware of the fact," a girl said from a seat near Evan. She had a wicked grin on her face. "But dear Via is too headstrong to think much of it."

"Well, Via believes Lizzie should shut her face."

"Via, so violent! Lizzie would like to propose a reconciliation in the form of chocolate. More specifically, a frog," Elizabeth recommended as she looked up from her current novel.

Silvia couldn't help but grin. "Via believes that is an excellent idea. She suggests they start right away."

"Bloody hell! If I hear one more of you talk in the third person…" Avery cried out, trying to concentrate on the essay Professor Flitwick has assigned them at the beginning of the week.

Two arms came out of nowhere to mess with Avery's hair, lightening the scowl on his features.

"Lighten up, Av," Ivie instructed as she seated herself near the boy.

Figuring that everyone had settled down again, Silvia set herself to completing her task. It was weary and tiresome but it would be worth it in the end. She was putting another card on the top when she noticed Severus out of the corner of her eye. He was edging closer. Without looking from her one hand coming closer to the pile's top, the other grasped her wand.

"Don't even think about it."

Dejected, he sat down and opened a book, sending her the occasional glare. The common room proceeded as such until the relative silence was finally broken. _BOOM! _Smoke was clearing from the center of the table, as everyone coughed and waved it past their airways. Rich laughter pealed through the air as a red-headed figure could be seen rolling about on the floor, holding her sides.

Severus shook his head. "Figures you would try to build a house out of Exploding Snap Cards, Colton."

- - - - -

Aurelia sat quietly next to Lily on the sofa, giving her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook a once-over as to be prepared for class the next day. Lily was fingering through Potions just as silently. Other than a couple second-years in the opposite corner, they were alone. The whole common room was unnaturally quiet. So naturally, they all exhaled loudly when the portrait swung open noisily.

The second-years started to giggle at the sight revealed from the opened portrait—James Potter walked down the short hall and into the room, naked to the waist and drenched in a clear, sticky liquid. His hair was as he liked it, messy, but it would take the better portion of a week to get the goop out.

"James, what—" Lia began, but the look he gave her was beyond malicious. He tightened his grip on the shirt he held clumped in his right hand. She watched sympathetically as he climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

As the rest of his group came crawling through the portrait—Sirius laughing and replaying the missed scene in his infamous commentary, Remus scowling lightly and side-stepping the trail James had left on the floor and Peter playing the part of Sirius' enthusiastic audience—Aurelia espied a hand-length scar on James' back. She wondered faintly what could possibly have gifted him with it when she was yanked from her thoughts by Lily's resounding voice yelling at the troublemakers for interrupting their studies.

Sirius snorted and traipsed up the stairs, Peter following close behind. Remus sat down in the armchair across from Aurelia and offered her a half-smile, but her mind was so focused on the scar, she barely noticed.

"Now, how did James come by that scar," she asked idly. Grinning, she added, "Wait! Let me guess: he got attack by some animal en route of one of Sirius' crazy ideas. Am I right?"

After a moment, Remus replied, "You're not wrong."

That night, lying in bed, Aurelia realized why she had been so interested in James' scar.

On the Hogwarts Express in September, Aurelia had joined the 'Marauders' compartment because half of her regular train had abandoned her for their rounds as prefects and the other half was just gallingly giddy.

She remembered a peculiar conversation she had overheard after Remus had made his first rounds and decided to come back to visit. They had introduced Aurelia to their group's nicknames. Peter was Wormtail, an odd but clever name and she could guess the meaning, but the first three she could not begin to imagine. Sirius was Padfoot, James was Prongs and Remus took the name Moony. She had heard most of them call each other these name before, but still did not understand what they meant. And the boys were not eager to fill her in.

Though puzzling, the comment James made to Remus about renaming him "back-stabber" and how everyone had become very quiet when Aurelia inquired as to what he meant had been even more curious. She had quickly discarded it as a 'guy thing' and they floated back into normal discussion.

If Remus had somehow given James that scar, it would most certainly have been accidental. And Remus had just said he had been attacked by an animal. Maybe James blamed Remus for the incident. Or maybe it was just some huge coincidence.

Perkins closed the door behind her and tip-toed quietly to her bed to get dressed in her night clothes and drift softly to sleep. She had been working over-time as a prefect and had little time for bonding with her friends and classmates. She could only do schoolwork, be a prefect and sleep in her free time.

Aurelia was still lying in her bed, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling, thinking intently. The curtains at the ends of the front board of her four-poster rippled as a result of the light breeze that came from the hallway.

"How were your rounds?"

Perkins jumped in fright and wheeled around to face Aurelia, who had sat up in her bed and pulled the curtains aside.

"Merlin, Lia!" Emily whispered fiercely. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry," she replied, but the grin on her face made the apology seem unsympathetic.

Emily slid silently onto her bed and crossed her legs.

"Why're you up, then?" she asked.

"Couldn't sleep. There's a lot of things to think about, you know. I mean, there are about nine hours that the average human spends sleeping in which he could be using to think or to design or to accomplish something. It seems like a complete waste to me. Here we always complain that there aren't enough hours in the day. Well, if we used the time we use for sleeping, there would be. I swear, loads of things could be done in nine hours a night. It would be like a never-ending day. Suppose it'd be a very interesting world, where everyone was tired and cranky all the time. For some people that's not a problem, though. Some people get along fine staying up all night…"

"Well, I'm not one of them." Emily scoffed at the mere suggestion of forbidding sleep, especially since she was so tired. "Do you usually think like this, Lia? Should I be worried?"

Aurelia let herself fall backwards onto her bed and she began staring at the ceiling once more.

"Just an urge. Needed to vent."

Emily looked towards her friend's bed to see if she was all right. When silence filled the room, all but for the soft hum of the other girls' breathing, Perkins pulled her curtains around her bed and fell softly back on her pillow.

- - - - -

"Professor?" Silvia had her hand over her mouth, causing her words to be quite muffled.

Before her, the ghost turned his silver head and regarded her as if he had no recollection to her name. In fact he most likely did not. After a time where someone alive would take several breaths he finally remembered. "Yes, Miss Colton?"

She had not wasted that time while he struggled with her name. She had made small moans and gagging sounds. "Professor, I think I'm going to be sick. It was probably something from potions that I had earlier…and it's not having a positive effect on me. Could I be excused?"

Binns looked at her and blinked at the particularly gross sound that emitted from her mouth. "You may leave, Miss Colton."

The entire class watched her make her way out of the room with all of her things. Once outside the door, she stood near it long enough to hear: "Now the Ilfracombe Incident was…"

With any luck the presence of Silvia Colton would be easily forgotten, just as she had planned.

Striding through the corridors she stopped at the third floor by the statue of a hump-backed witch. Tapping it with her wand and saying, "_Dissendium_," a portion of it opened. That was what she loved about the old castle; all of the secret passageways that she had a flair for discovering. This particular one lead into the basement of Honeydukes. It was always best to visit Hogsmeade while classes were still in sessions, thereby eliminating the chance of any teacher being within the area. She took her time walking and even changed into slightly different clothes so as not to reveal the origin of her residence. It would be a little obvious if she kept her uniform on.

Silvia made her way through the cellar of the store to the front with little difficulty. She visited the regular stores to replenish items she had run out of. Finally making her way to the Three Broomsticks, she ordered an assortment of beverages. She had the stack set on a nearby table. Pointing her wand at it, it reduced in size until she could easily fit it all in her pocket. She took her time returning to the passageway as well, for she had plenty of time to spare.

And once there, she started back on her journey where she encountered quite a surprise. One that was not pleasant and involved her hitting something, and hitting it hard. Sprawled on the floor, Silvia grappled for her wand. Upon finding the wooden length, she held it within her fist. A voice echoed her incantation of "_Lumos!"_

Staring back at her from the other side of the tunnel was Sirius Black.

"Git," Silvia spat, checking to make sure her purchases were unharmed. "Watch where you're going."

The Gryffindor stiffened. "You Slytherins are all the same; unable to admit that _you_ might have done something wrong for once."

"Oh, and I suppose that means you Gryffs are without default? If you didn't have those sticks so far up your arses maybe you would learn to think outside the books. Live a little."

"I have no clue how Aurelia can be related to you," Sirius stated, as though her being associated to Aurelia was something drastic.

Silvia rolled her eyes. "Give it up. It's the same way Regulus can possible have the same genes as you."

They both stared at one another through the wand light; features blurred slightly and displaying hatred towards one another. Their wands were pointed. The silence lasted for moments while they were stuck within that position.

"I'm not sure if I should hex you now or not," Silvia ground out finally, her posture not relaxing in the slightest.

"I was trying to see if I could choose a hair color that you haven't tried already," Black admitted, his muscles not relaying any of their tension.

"Pink. I would never make it pink. That would be hideous. Extremely unthreatening. It would give first years the wrong impression."

Sirius's expression slid into a smirk. "You telling me you care about the first years?"

"Not in the slightest." Silvia's face matched his own, expect hers held more malice. "It might make them think I'm remotely benign. And I can't waste hexes on them when they're meant for you."

"Dreadful. Can't say I'm not impressed you found this passage, though. Most don't find any."

"It might not make it through your perfectly clouded mind, but I'm far from _most_ students," Silvia admonished with a small sense of pride. "I thought the hair was a dead give-away to that at least."

"You'd be surprised at how many people believe Gryffindors really are goo—" Sometime during their talk they had both relaxed. Wands were still held aloft but their other muscles had lessened their tension. Now, Sirius's face contorted into one of disbelief and disgust. "Was—were we just having a conversation?"

Upon the implication of that question, Silvia too looked as if she had just stepped in something horrendous. "I think we were. Merlin, I must be losing my mind."

"I think it's contagious," Sirius muttered.

Silvia locked gazes with him suddenly. "Black, this never happened."

"What never happened?" He replied with all innocence.

"Exactly," Silvia said before she lowered her wand and walked around him. She took the rest of the passageway to contemplate the conversation she had just had. It was even civil! She had lost her mind.

Reaching the third floor again she made a hasty retreat to the Slytherin common room. By now classes should be out, and her housemates returned. Opening up the 'door', she strode in and walked straight into the boy's dormitories. It was where they usually met, when they didn't want the younger years bothering them. Not to mention the fact that the boys couldn't set foot in their dormitories.

Extracting two tiny bottles, she returned them to their normal size before walking through the door. Everyone looked at her and Silvia grinned, "Party time!"

"I knew you weren't really sick," Elizabeth snickered as she helped return the beverages and food back to their regular proportion.

- - - - -

The following week Aurelia spent in the library. She told anyone who asked that she was researching a 'query'. Every so often, she would get an intellectual breakthrough for which she quickly cut off any conversation to run to a book. She had grown to despise the book-return policy of Madam Pince. More than once as she read a book it would begin to hover above the table and then fly into the air in search of the library. The first time it happened, she nearly skewered Peeves through the intangible gut with a spear after falling on a suit of armor attempting to reclaim an overdue book. She wished she had after the ghost broke into epic verse about her clumsiness.

By Saturday evening when she met her cousin in an empty second floor classroom at eleven o'clock, her research had gotten little farther than it had been when she had started. Hopeless, she turned to Silvia for advice on the subject.

"You're obsessed," was her reply. "Whatever it is you're trying to find out, you're obsessed with it."

"I am not! I haven't even been researching that much…"

"You've been at it for a whole week!"

"I have not! You deduced that from what I've told you."

"But it's true, isn't it?"

Aurelia gave Silvia the most annoyed look she could muster up.

"Let's say you have a friend who's_ abnormal_—"

"Lia, look around. We're all abnormal."

"No, I mean abnormal in our world."

"Like a Parselmouth or a Seer?"

"No, like an Animagus."

"Okay, what about it?"

"Well, since they have control over themselves, could they unintentionally scar someone with their claws or nails?"

"I don't think so. The size of the scar you described, it sounds more like a wild animal or maybe a werewolf was the culprit. Who's got the scar? You never said—"

"No one," she said softly, her mind racing. "I was just speaking hypothetically."

"Liar! What are you trying to pull?"

Aurelia's eyes were shifting as if trying to find the right book photographed in her mind.

"I have to go," she said finally. "I have to get to the library."

"All right, that's it. I draw the line at my cousin turning into a book-worm." She grabbed her wrist as Aurelia was trying to exit the room.

"You think you're gonna get past Woldrum…did I really just say that?"

They both smirked.

"But I really do have to get back to the common room. It might be in one of the books I already checked out—"

"First meeting in three weeks and you wanna cut it short. Can you get there okay by yourself, jerk?"

"I'll be fine. I'll owl you in a few days."

"I've heard that one before," Silvia said.

They hugged and went their separate ways, peaking around corners for tell-tale signs of the caretaker.

Aurelia was too preoccupied with the millions of theories that were flooding her brain to be so careful after the fourth floor. What if Silvia was right? What if James really was clawed by a werewolf? Even more disturbing, what if Remus was that werewolf? She tried to come up with a different hypothesis, but this one made every bit of sense. Scarred by a wild animal—and of course Remus would refer to himself as such in his wolf form (if in fact he was one)—on one of Sirius' crazy schemes—which would have been following Remus on a full moon—and why Remus always looked so beat up spontaneously each month.

She gasped aloud.

But it hadn't been for running into Professor Slughorn. Which she had.

"What on earth are you doing out of your bed this late at night, Ms. Colton?"

He was dressed much like he always was during the school day. Perhaps he had been grading papers late that night. _Great_, she thought. _Just great!_

"I…um…good evening, Professor!" she stumbled.

Slughorn put his hands on his bulging waist, looking expectantly for an answer.

"Well, you see, Professor, I thought I heard something—"

"From the seventh floor?" Slughorn asked cynically. "I very much doubt you have such good hearing, unless you took some elixir I'm unaware of. Come with me."

_Damn it!_ echoed inside her head.

- - - - -

One and a half days later, she was sitting in Slughorn's classroom, silently cleaning out potions jars with a multitude of dead animals and rotting plants inside. She hadn't exactly been doing her best at wiping down the muck-covered insides of the bottles and when the professor hauled Sirius and James in by the ears—literally—he told her to re-do half of them.

Slughorn had more important things to do than look after them, so he went off to do whatever it was he had to do and left the three of them to clean.

"So, what're you in for?" said Sirius in a burly voice resembling that of a jail mate.

Aurelia looked at him sideways and then at James and back down at her dirty cleaning rag.

"Out after curfew," she supplied shortly.

"Ah," James said assuredly. "Need to be taught the finer skills of stealthiest. Want a tutor?"

Lia scoffed. "And you two?"

"The usual," he replied.

"Pertaining specifically to a certain Slytherin of whom you are quite familiar—"

"—and just so happen to share blood."

Aurelia's eyes raised but they did not elaborate. "And…?"

"I told you, the usual."

Seeing as they were not about to lend her a hint of the scene that had occurred with Silvia, she dropped the subject and sighed, knowing what she was about to do would certainly have a negative effect.

The two boys had finally started working on the other end of the row of dirty jars when she said, "Seen any full moons lately?"

The towel James was wrapping around his hand slipped out of his grip and his fist hit hard against the countertop. Sirius shoved him in the side, just _barely_ noticeable.

"Like we take the time to look up at the moon, Aurelia."

She made a sound as if it didn't matter either way and the boys undoubtedly thought they were off the hook.

They were wrong, of course.

One minute later: "How about the Forbidden Forest, then?" she asked casually. "Run into any crazed beasts I should know about?"

"Are you planning to take a hike in there or something?" James asked.

"Not planning, no. But if it should happen, I'd be prepared, wouldn't I?"

Sirius and James did not reply but that did not stop her interrogation either.

Five minutes later: "Have you guys ever stayed up all night worrying about someone—like you know they're having a rough time and you just want to be there for them?"

"Nope."

"Not really."

Seven minutes later: "Do you ever think about what it'd be like if you were the one who'd been bitten?"

"Sometimes I really—" James kicked Sirius in the shin from across the table and, while grimacing in pain, he finished with, "don't know what you're talking about."

Lia placed the jar she was wiping off down on the counter and cast the two boys a hard, narrow look as if they had deeply wronged her. Placing her clenched fist on the table, she stood from her seat and gave a soft "ugh" before walking towards the door.

"Tell Slughorn I did my share," she said calmly. "See you in the common room."

- - - - -

The early year trip to Hogsmeade was taken only by a few confident students and the ones who the confident ones dragged along. The O.W.L.s were quickly approaching Hogwarts and anxiety had been spread throughout the entire population of the fifth year.

At the end of the day, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had positioned themselves on the edge of High Street to people watch.

"You notice Aurelia's been acting a little paranoid lately?"

"Sirius," James sighed. "You heard her the other day in detention. She's on to you Remus."

Remus looked up from his Charms book, closed it gently while saving the page with one finger.

"What? Me? What did I do?"

"Not what you_ did_, Remus," Sirius said and added a morose toned, "Who you_ are_."

He shrugged and opened his book again. "So tell her. It's not like she's a stranger, she's a friend."

"Come off it," said James.

"We just turned into animals for you, Moony! And now you're gonna go off and tell everyone!"

"James, if you and Lily ever, you know, would you tell her if she asked?"

He hesitated before saying, "Only if you all told me I could."

"Why was that your analogy, Remus?" Sirius teased. "Do you like Aurelia like th—"

"No. All of us are just friends. But for _you_, Sirius…"

"What?"

"It's blatantly obvious."

"You've been drooling over her for some time, mate."

Sirius scoffed unbelievingly. He drooled over no one. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Across the street and a little ways down, Aurelia was laughing with Evans and Perkins, sipping hot Butterbeer slowly. He scoffed again. There wasn't a chance that he was attracted to her.

"Should I go over there and ask her what she knows?"

"That's real incognito of you, Padfoot."

"We're not telling her, right?" Peter asked.

"Shut up, Worm, you've never liked her."

"And you always have."

"Who asked you?"

Remus, James and Peter all broke into laughter when they heard how defensive his tone had been.

On the spur of the moment, Sirius decided to turn. He'd find out what was what with Aurelia if he had to charm it out of her.

"Cover me," he whispered.

"No way, Sirius, you're not—"

But his body had already morphed into the form of a big black dog and he was running down the street, nipping at snowflakes. He was at the girls' sides in a manner of seconds, escaped from his mocking friends. He did not like Lia the way they said. It would just have been weird.

He sat down and wagged his tail sharply, barking just once in a come-play-with-me way. It made all three of them jump. They turned around quickly and smiled, though Aurelia was the only one to bend down to pet the stray.

"He's so cute!" Lia said and scratched behind his ear.

Sirius let his tongue hang out of his mouth the way dogs do and barked again, encouragingly.

"Lia, we have to meet Frieda and Maria in Honeydukes soon. We should get going."

"I'll meet you there," she said absently.

Lily and Emily walked off and Aurelia was left behind, still petting the dog. She looked up and spotted three of the Marauders at the other end of the street. The dog's eyes shifted up to see her glare.

"I can't believe them," she muttered.

Sirius felt her nails dig harder against the skin under his thick fur. He whined a little and she tore her eyes from the boys to the dog. Lia took both sides of his head and continued to rub gently behind his ears; he started to pant.

"They're just so…mysterious, sometimes. They have their own secret society, the four of them. It's got to be just them. But I know the truth…at least I think I do. They're too stubborn to tell me anything! And James and Sirius are so _difficult!_ I wish I could just…urgh! You know?"

She looked back down at the dog and laughed. The way the sides of her mouth curved into a smile made Sirius subconsciously hang his tongue.

"I'm talking to a dog." She shook her head and laughed again. "Hope you find your owners. It's a shame they don't let students have dogs. I'd take you home with me."

She rustled the fur around his neck and stood up, heading down the street in pursuit of her friends.

The black dog whined as he watched her walk. When she was out of his sight, he ran into an alleyway and came out a minute later as a human. Upon finding James, Remus and Peter, he told them, "She said she _thinks_ she knows. She's not positive."

"Than keep it that way," James said. "She doesn't need to know what Remus is—or what any of us are for that matter."

"We should tell her."

The rest of them looked at Sirius, shocked.

"You're starting to act like a bloody girl, changing your mind all the time."

"She just sounds really excluded. Like we're hiding some—"

"We _are_ hiding something from her! We're hiding something from everyone!"

"Prongs, keep your voice down."

"You're impossible!"

"It's an irreplaceable trait."

"Like your deep, passionate love for Lia?"

"Shut it!"

"I don't know if you noticed," said Remus, "but your tail was wagging like crazy when she was—"

"You're supposed to be Mr. Sensitivity, Moony. Don't ruin your reputation by tearing the mickey out of me."

"I dunno what seems more important now. You're making it so easy…"

"He probably daydreams about her during class," said Peter, laughing to himself.

James, Sirius and Remus looked at him blankly. His laughing died and he crossed his legs awkwardly.

"You're terrible at the whole teasing concept, Pete."

"Just—"

"Don't ever do that again."

They walked across High Street and into Zonkos for their third visit of the day.


	12. Rivarly and Realization

_ Past_

**CHAPTER XII  
**

_Rivalry and Realization_

"Padfoot!"

Blearily Sirius looked up at his best mate. His eyes drifted back up to the bowl of cooling porridge set before him. A little drop of honey migrated closer to his spoon. It was too early for this, whatever this was. Stealing himself, he looked up again. "What did I do _now_?"

"This." James thrust a bouquet of daffodils into Sirius's face.

Slowly Sirius took the yellow flowers. One always had to be careful when accepting something from a Marauder, especially when one was a Marauder. When the flowers touched his hands an annoyingly shrill shriek met his ears. It sounded faintly like singing, and straining his ears he could decipher the words.

_Jamsie, I don't know what I thought  
It's obvious you can't be bought  
(Although I tried—your parents were quite rude)  
I know that you love me  
Don't worry about that ugly Lily  
To the end it will be you and me  
Oh, Jamsie_

The song went on for a few more stanzas but Sirius was too busy laughing to really pay attention. Remus and Peter had heard the unfortunate song and were having a hard time remaining seated on the bench. Furiously, James glared down at Sirius.

"What? You think I sent them? Well let me tell you mate, bloody brilliant that they are, I didn't send them. Although I wish I had, or could meet the maker…"

"You're supposed to help me."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and went back to the flowers, having them play again. "You're the one that accused me first."

It was at the line about Lily that the aforementioned girl sat down. Her mouth hung open and she delivered a steely glare at James before turning so her back faced him. She quickly started up a conversation with the girl sitting next to her.

James held his head in his hands. "Great, I finally make progress with Evans and this," he waved in the direction of the flowers, "screws it all up."

"Look on the bright side, maybe Lily will get jealous."

"Hah, I never get that lucky."

Sirius took that moment to start the flowers up again, causing multiple laughs.

From across the room grey eyes watched, amused.

It didn't end there for James Potter, unfortunately. Over the course of the next few weeks he was sent singing cards, various letters professing undying love, boxes of chocolate he swore were enchanted and plenty of Zonkos products.

"James!" Sirius's voice met a whining note. "Why can't we use them? They are perfectly good dungbombs!"

"NO! They could be bewitched to do something horrible," James shivered involuntarily. He threw the latest package full of dungbombs into the garbage.

"I'll take my chances," Sirius went to dig them out but James summoned it towards him.

He held it in one hand and walked away. "I'm not letting my best mate get eaten alive or something just because I have a stalker."

"But a very considerate stalker."

"She's a stalker nonetheless." James started to walk down the dormitory stairs to dispose of the dungbombs so they would be securely away from Sirius.

He was followed by the boy who was acting like a lost puppy. "But James!" Getting no response he tried another approach. "Maybe it's not even a she."

James turned around. "Of course it's a she, you git!"

"But how do you know that?"

"Well…er…I just do."

"Compelling response," Remus said from the other side of the otherwise silent common room.

Huffily James made a beeline for the portrait opening with Sirius arguing behind him. Suddenly Sirius was starting to get frustrated with how paranoid James was becoming due to this stalker, especially because of the fact that he kept throwing away perfectly able gifts.

- - - - -

Silvia was waiting in the room when Aurelia arrived. As she was there first, it was her choice to what the room resembled, and it held a particularly comfy atmosphere, complete with sofas of a deep green. One of those was where the red-haired girl lounged currently.

"So, anything interesting happening in the house of the loyal and brave?"

Aurelia took a seat while looking at her cousin suspiciously. "Why are you asking?"

"It's nothing devious if that's what you're thinking, just curiosity. Inter-house unity and all that stuff Dumbledore has been shoving down our throats." Silvia noticed her cousin's expression had yet to change. She sighed. "I'll tell you mine first then, hmm?"

"All right."

"Lizzie got caught up in her drapes this morning. Set them on fire, too. Poor thing scared the first years to pieces when she ran down the stairs all ablaze. It was glorious. Your turn."

"That wasn't everything," Aurelia pointed out, sending the other girl a withering glance.

"We'll go in shifts then. Otherwise we can't possibly convey _every_thing."

"Couple second years thought they found a secret passageway during Defense lessons last Tuesday. Turns out Woldrum actually set a _trap_ to catch them out of class."

Via grimaced at the thought. "That was weak. I filled the boy's dormitory with dungbombs, tied to some _liberated_ Potions frogs."

"Slughorn gave me detention. Past curfew."

"McGonagall gave me two. For nicking the frogs."

"I'm seeing Eric Tremming."

"Ravenclaw? Outside the box. Never liked him. Too cocky."

"Great kisser, though."

"Nice to know. Choked on fluxweed making Polyjuice."

"James is being stalked."

"Potter? Oh I want details, and don't you dare skimp on me!" Silvia was sitting forward in her seat. It was no secret that little love was lost between two of the Marauders and the Slytherin Colton, so this revelation would most likely serve as highly amusing.

"It started with singing daffodils. It was a few weeks back at breakfast. Then it gradually progressed to gifts of sweets, dungbombs, candy and the like." Aurelia watched her cousin's falter slightly.

"Stalked? It sounds more like he's just got a secret admirer."

Lia let out an exasperated breath. "That's what we've been trying to tell him! But I swear the boy's gone mad. He's become all paranoid and thinks everyone is out to get him. Sirius has gone batty with not being able to utilize all of the gifts, because James will throw them away the instant they appear."

Silvia nodded, accepting that but then her brow creased. "What about the other half of the _friendship square_?" vengeance

"Remus just ignores them all. Peter is conflicted on who to side with, James or Sirius. It's amusing, as he'll switch his support every two seconds."

"So, Black and Potter are going crazy?" Silvia leaned back into her seat, with a comfortable posture.

"Yes," Aurelia eyed the faked redhead suspiciously. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," she said, twirling a bit of her reddish hair as she leaned back. Then she sprung forward suddenly, shocking her cousin. "I need your help with something."

"Silvia, do you remember what happened the last time you said that?"

"Lia," Silvia's voice held that whining tone that is used commonly by toddlers worldwide. "That was different. I won't be asking you to sneak into Romey's room and take his wand."

Aurelia huffed. "I bet the results will be the same. Aurelia ends up with punishment for weeks while Silvia basks in the glory of her engorged toad."

"Yeah, but did you see Gran's face when she stepped on it! It was wonderful! Anyway, I was wondering if you could do something for me and I promise you won't get into any trouble for it. It happens to be something in your house."

Silvia had a mischievous smile across her features.

"And what would that be?"

"Well you see…"

The girls spent the next few hours deep in conversation and plotting. It is never a good idea to let both of the Colton cousins in the same room when one had something up their sleeve.

- - - - -

"I swear that was absolutely brilliant!" James' voice carried up from the stairway outside the boy's dormitory.

"Snivellus definitely didn't suspect a thing. I wager it was one of our better pranks this year."

Sirius was joyous at the prospect of having caused harm upon their least favorite person.

"Will you two ever grow up?"

"Not likely, Moony," James said as he looked back at his friend before entering the room and lighting the candles. His eyes widened at the sight.

There were rose pedals everywhere and entirely more candles than usual. Most were centered around one bed, namely, his. The drapes were shut and it smelled like some sickening flowery perfume. James gulped and then walked forward. The other boys had quieted. Silently raising his wand he muttered a spell to draw the curtains. Seeing no one was in his bed, he let out a visible sigh.

He then glimpsed the simple scarf that lay across his pillow and the note beside it. He left the scarf alone and picked up the note.

_I couldn't help myself; I just had to see your room, your things. I only wish you had been there. But I wanted to give you this scarf, as it helps me to think of you. It matches your eyes. But now you can think of me when you wear it. I left you a few other presents in the room. _

James' reaction was shock. It wasn't until Remus approached to tug the note out of his hand that he screamed. It actually reached a fairly high pitch.

"Bloody hell, what's his problem?" Sirius asked while covering his ears.

Wordlessly Remus handed the note back towards his dogged friend.

"She…she was in my…my room. Oh crap, crap, crap."

James was close to hyperventilating and he alternated between the two phrases.

"James, calm down."

"SHE WAS IN MY ROOM!"

"We gather that mate, but it doesn't look like anything's awry," Sirius pointed out, looking over the rest of the room. The only things out of ordinary were the candles, rose pedals and the scarf.

James grabbed the note from Sirius. "Nothing awry? Nothing awry! Did you even read the note? It said she left presents. PRESENTS! Those are just flesh eating spiders in disguise! Oh Merlin, maybe they're clowns!"

"Clowns?"

Remus leaned over to Sirius. "Muggle thing. People dressed in bright clothes and put make-up all over their face."

"So…they're like girls?" Peter asked, still slightly confused about the subject.

Sirius and Remus spared him a bewildered glance before focusing back on James, who was currently tearing the room apart.

"James! James, stop it! HEY! That's mine!" Sirius went over to tackle his friend away from his possessions.

Remus flung himself on his bed, with a hand over his face. These were _not_ his friends. Nope. Not a one of them.

"Hey Remus, what's wrong with Potter?" asked one of the several Gryffindors crowded by their doorway. They all stared as James slunk underneath a bed to escape Sirius, and emerged on the other side with a crazed gleam in his eye.

"You don't want to know."

- - - - -

All of the Marauders and several other Gryffindors were exhausted that next morning due to James Potter's antics to scour the whole tower for any signs of _presents_. It was in a combined History of Magic lesson the next day that things got a little bit worse.

"Hey Potter! I heard you're being stalked!" The voice came from none other than Silvia Colton, who couldn't care less if Professor Binns could hear her or not. Most likely he couldn't anyway.

James grit his teeth. "What's the matter Colton, you jealous?"

"Merlin, no!" Via let out a good-natured laugh. "I don't know what girl—or most likely boy—would be so crazed as to want to stalk you."

"Do you have a point?"

"Well, since you asked, I would like to thank you for all the dungbombs and chocolates that have been coming from the Gryffindor houses' waste bins. We've all found them _very_ beneficial." Silvia neglected the portion that they all turned out to be transfigured rocks and not the actual things. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Do you make a point of going through our trash?" James sneered, making several of those listening in laugh.

"Hardly," Silvia retorted, eyes narrowed. "I found out from some _chatty_ first years, who just happened to be Gryffindors."

"Preying on first years? That's low even for you, Colton."

"I'm sorry, Potter, I just have to ask you a question…" Silvia reached into her bag and pulled out a grey-colored scarf, much like the one James had received the previous night. "Does this match my eyes?"

"Why you—" James grabbed for his wand before being restrained by his friends.

"I do hope the two of you have learned something from this _amusing_ experience."

"And what would that be?" If looks could kill, Silvia would have already perished under James' gaze.

Silvia grinned, undeterred. "That you shouldn't mess with me. And the fact that you're both gits."

"You keep mentioning two of us, but I was the only one receiving things. Maybe you can't count." James grinned tightly at his joke and his friends slowly joined him.

"_Boys_," Silvia said, rolling her eyes along with half the girls in the classroom, from both houses. "You're extremely simple-minded. You and Black. Or didn't you notice how you were driving him insane, especially each and every time you'd throw one of my _gifts_ away."

It was at that point that Sirius released James and made to move towards her himself.

"Mr. Black, why are you out of your seat?" Professor Binns voiced from the front of the room.

Sirius looked between a grinning Silvia and the expectant professor. "I was just retrieving my quill."

"Then once you have done so, it would be best if you sat back down in your seat."

He sat back and muttered murder under his breath, while next to him James mirrored his thoughts. Across the room, Silvia and most of the Slytherins couldn't contain their glee. Even some of Gryffs laughed, Aurelia certainly among them.

- - - - -

Aurelia had always had some immunity to the stupidity Gryffindor boys plagued on other students. It got her thinking that it was Lily's doing, for there was not even the slightest possibility of Lily being infected with any of their common-placed idiocy. Being around her tight-wound, book-worm friend most of the day seemed to widen that immunity. She wondered who was vaccinating Remus.

"What're you reading?" she asked quietly so as not to disturb the other fifth years in the common room.

Remus' eyes shifted upward to look at her as if they did so often, which was probable since James and Sirius must have interrupted his reading often.

"_Hairy Snout, Human Heart_," he said calmly looking back down to finish a sentence.

Aurelia knew the book. She'd checked it out from the library and read the first few chapters. A book about a werewolf's struggle, interestingly enough.

"Remus, are you saying…"

"Yes."

She was struck with the realization that she'd been right, which meant Remus was a werewolf…_which meant Remus was a werewolf!_ Her functions would have broken down and she would have shifted into her 'all sentimental' mode had she not seen the great big smile forming on his face. It had been silently decided that they would make a joke out of it.

"I knew it!" she whispered fiercely with a glance to the corner. Remus chuckled. "Were you going to tell me all along?"

"That was the plan, yes."

"I could have just asked you instead of trying to go through Potter and Black! Is that what you're saying?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Remus, I swear, if I wasn't feeling both tired and extremely intrusive to your personal space, I would be knocking all four of your heads against the fat lady's portrait."

"Good thing you're tired then, huh?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes and the muscles in her head ached with the effort. She _was_ tired, she hadn't been lying about that, but there was no way she was going up to bed now.

"God, Remus—I have no idea what to—"

"It's not a big…well, yes. I suppose it is a big deal."

"No," Lia teased. "You growing fur and a tail once a month isn't all that much different from what you do on a nightly basis anyway, is it?"

"I hope you're not going to judge me—"

"Never!"

"Or pity me—"

"Of course not!"

"Or tell anyone el—"

"What do you take me for, really?"

"A rare English Pogrebin who overdoses on Veritaserum and ends up rabbiting to her unsuspecting victims."

"Touché, Remus!" Aurelia eyed the portrait and then the students studying in the corner. "What is wrong with those two anyway? If you didn't care if I knew, why were they being so difficult about it when I asked them?"

"Because that's what they are. Difficult."

"Isn't that the truth."

"Ever since Sirius moved in with the Potter's it seems to have gotten worse."

"What did you just say?"

"They're both more difficult since Sirius moved—oh. He hasn't told you yet? Sirius ran away."

"He did? When did this happen?"

"Well, over the summer," said Remus. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter just took him in like he was already theirs. He's over there enough to be part of the family already."

Aurelia sat back in her seat, playing with the strand of hair that kept falling into her eyes. She couldn't contemplate a good enough reason for someone to run away from home. She was well aware of Sirius' family situation, but she was not entirely sure she knew just how much hatred he held for them. Aurelia loved her father dearly and even though occasionally she would be the victim of his drinking habits, she would never run away.

"Why'd he do it?"

"I wouldn't…I don't think that…"

"Nevermind," she said quietly, but sternly.

They sat in silence, just staring at one another until a dark figure with back to fireplace, making his face indiscernible, walked up to them.

"Hey Lia…Remus."

Sirius slouched boyishly next to Aurelia on the couch; his legs spread wide, his hands behind his head and elbows to each side. He reminded her of Romey wearing something other than Quidditch robes. Boys will be boys, she told herself while trying to ram down her urge to punch him in the stomach.

"Remus said you could tell me and you didn't," she said, looking sideways at him.

"YOU TOLD HER?" Sirius shouted, making a few of the study-buddies in the corner look up from their Transfiguration notes.

"Of course I told her," said Remus, calm as could be. "I said I would tell her if she asked."

"And you asked?"

"Of course I asked! Didn't you get that I was a bit more than interested from my deeply thought-out and inventive interrogation?"

Sirius hesitated under Aurelia's steely glare before saying, "Look, I'm sorry I was spying on you…"

"What? You were SPYING ON ME?"

A snort almost escaped Remus when he saw the look on Sirius' face.

"You told her _that_ but you didn't tell her _that?_" he exclaimed loudly.

"Sweet Merlin! You were the—!"

Sirius pushed himself out of his slouched position and had his hand covering Aurelia mouth before she could get the next word out. Anyone in the common room who hadn't been listening in before was now. The threesome was being looked over curiously by a dozen different eyes. Aurelia grabbed Sirius' hand and flung it away from her. They all sat in silence, waiting for the other fifth years to mind their own business, each group staring at the other.

"O.W.L.s!" shouted Sirius suddenly.

Aurelia found it hilarious that upon hearing the acronym, the study group immediately went into a frenzy of opening textbooks and grabbing notes out of others' hands. But her carefree expression changed almost as suddenly.

"So you're all—well, of course you are. Merlin, I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. Your nicknames!"

Moony was a werewolf. Padfoot was a dog. Wormtail, she soon deduced, was obviously a mouse or a rat. But _Prongs_? Like a horn (rhino?) or large claws (lion?) or possibly antlers?

"What's James?"

"Sorry, don't know what you're talking about."

"Drop the act, _Padfoot_. I know you're all Animagi."

"Not all of us."

"Sorry, Remus. Is he a…deer?"

"Oh, that's real masculine. A deer." Sirius scoffed. "He's a _stag_."

"And it's incredibly masculine to be a puppy."

"I'm a _mutt!_"

"Of course you are."

They glared silently. Remus got sick of watching them, picked up his book and began where he'd left off. Sirius' gaze faltered as a figure walked behind Aurelia.

"Is that Vouldora or Derkson?"

Aurelia looked behind her, recognizing Maria's curly blonde head.

"Vouldora."

"It's Maria, right?"

"Yeah."

Sirius grinned, lifting his feet on top of the couch cushion and jumping over the furniture to position himself in front of Maria's path to the girl's dormitories. Aurelia watched him chat up her friend out of the corner of her eye. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary until she heard Maria's giggling while Sirius pecked her cheek.

_That_ was weird.

He walked her to the stairs and offered his hand so she could get onto the first step without tripping on her robes, which had never been a threat before. How sickeningly sweet and romantic of him.

"Are you two together?" she asked once he returned to his seat.

"We are now."

"That was a quick skip through the first steps of dating and right into the Wanna Snog Stage."

"We weren't snogging. Planning that for—"

"Don't want to know!" said Aurelia and Remus at the same time.

Sirius looked complacent, but not exactly happy.

Aurelia mumbled quietly, "If Frieda had walked through the portrait, I bet she would've been the proxy."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She was just jealous, she figured. Jealous that Maria was now dating and she wasn't. Tremming had broken up with Lia only two days ago and she was still a little shaken up about it. "Dating bites. No offence."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you can…"

"Bite? Don't kid yourself, Lia. You can bite too, though regrettably not as hard."

"What's_ that_ supposed to—"

"Jamsie, over here! We've gotta go."

"What did you mean by that?"

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go plot you cousin's gruesome death. Remus, you coming?"

"Talk to you later, Lia."

"Rem_uuus_!"

"Maybe I should—"

"Get your damn book and let's go!"

- - - - -

"Dammit, Davis! Would you stop tapping your finger?"

Silvia looked like she was ready to murder someone (most likely Ivie who was disturbing the silence). The fifth year Slytherins were arrayed throughout the common room, all with various academic materials about them. They were studying, or at least trying, for the upcoming O.W.L.s.

Ivie scowled, running another hand along her perfect golden hair.

"Oh, give it up, Via. It's not like you really care about your grades."

It was a known fact that Silvia Colton rarely studied for an exam. She would just wing her way through it on natural talent and a little luck.

Even so, the statement caused Silvia's blood to boil.

"Ivie, you don't know a thing about me. Don't pretend you do."

"Well, maybe if you spent some more time with us, instead of running off with older people, I would! You probably go visit that little cousin of yours once in awhile too."

Normally Davis wouldn't have tried Silvia's patience, since it rarely had encouraging results, but the pressure of the tests were weighing on her mind, making her voice things she would normally keep to herself.

Silvia scoffed. "Is that what this is about? You're jealous that I'm friends with Malfoy and the Black sisters? You seem to be good _friends_ with Regulus. Why don't you ask him to introduce you to th—oh wait! I forgot you already have."

Davis pushed back her chair from the table she was seated at. She shook with rage. "You little—"

Elizabeth caught her arm before she could move towards Silvia.

"Cool it, both of you," she said and delivered a glare to each one in turn. "We're all feeling the pressure. Don't make it worse. You know it's a bad thing when _I_ have to be the voice of reason around here."

"Fine, give the little princess what she wants. I'm out of here."

Silvia stood up and didn't bother to collect her things. She wasn't really studying; Ivie'd been right about that. She relied on her talent more than anything else, but she knew talent wasn't going to be enough for the O.W.L.s. As she walked towards the exit she heard one last thing.

"Notice how she avoided any mention of her cousin?" Ivie sneered while glaring daggers at Silvia's back.

The Colton girl gripped her wand and seriously considered turning around and to hex. Then she heard that unmistakable voice of Evan's. "Drop it, will you, Davis? Unless you _want_ your hair to turn purple…"

She made her way outside into the still frigid air. She cradled her arms against her chest, not even having the flimsy protection of her robes around her. Sprinting across the ground, she was a blur of green, black and grey until she reached the edge of the forest. Not knowing why, she looked over her shoulder before proceeding into the trees.

Once inside, Silvia felt a calm rush over her. She always felt comforted inside of it, which was odd since it was supposed to be terrifying. She walked until she found a small clearing inside of various trees. She sat on one of the protruding tree roots and put her head in her hands. She shouldn't have snapped at Ivie like that. It really wasn't her fault that Silvia's nerves were so shot.

It was her own fault.

She had been running from all the pain in her life that she didn't think it would catch up at any point. She ran from her aunt's death, her uncle's rapidly-changed attitude, from the fact that her father was often away from home, that her mother was too busy with other things to really notice her. That was the reason she had dyed her hair. Sure, it had started because she was hurt by her mother's reaction to the death of her Aunt Maggie, but it had grown into something larger.

Winter break had been a nightmare for her. Her parents (mainly her mother) had insisted that she return home for the holidays since they never got to see nearly enough of her. But the whole vacation they'd gone to parties and functions, ones in which her father would often be absent for and her mother would be with her gaggle of friends, trying to pawn her daughter off to eligible and influential young men. Silvia couldn't have cared less.

It wasn't that she didn't know her mother was trying to do her best for her only child, it was just that she wasn't. She didn't really know what was best for her daughter. Silvia had always wished that she could have some sort of siblings, someone to share the burden in their household. The closest thing she'd ever gotten to one was Aurelia, and that suited her just fine regularly, but it was after visits to her home that she wished she had a brother or sister.

Once, when she was younger, she had even gone into a Muggle hospital and wandered her way through to where they kept the newborn babies. She thought maybe she could just take one to be her family. She'd gazed through the window for what seemed like hours, just watching the babies, wondering which one could be her brother or sister. Then one had started to thrash about and got tangled up in the tubes it was hooked up to. Going closer to the window she watched as the baby struggled harder until it finally stopped altogether. It hadn't moved again and the soft rise and fall of its chest had turned into stillness. She'd left quickly, hoping not to cause any more unintentional harm against anyone else.

That had sealed her fate, though; she wasn't meant to look over another being.

Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as she remembered the angelic look on the baby's face so long ago. She wondered now why no Muggles had even gone in to check on the baby. If they don't even take care of their newborns, how can they be trusted to take care of the rest of the world, she wondered.

Silvia had had an aversion to Muggles ever since.

A twig snapped in the brush around her. Grey eyes snapped up to look into blank white, shiny ones, like those of someone without sight. Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed upon her favorite creature—a Thestral. They were fascinating. People were afraid of them, which was fine with her.

Curiously, the horse-like creature made its way towards her. It viewed her with an apprehension, despite the interest it held. Silvia extended a hand in a way of greeting. She'd been able to see the Thestrals since she saw that baby die. She had never mentioned it to others, for it wasn't a memory she enjoyed.

Eventually the Thestral took to exploring the pinkish object before it. Its nose was sniffing her hair when it sneezed. Silvia reeled back, slightly disgusted, before throwing her arms around its neck and laughing to the point of crying again. She finally released the creature to be about its business.

"You know, they aren't safe."

Silvia turned to see Evan Rosier emerging from the edges of the clearing.

"You come to lecture me too, Evan?"

"No, I came to check on you."

He walked closer to her and she remained firmly rooted.

"And why do you care what happens to me?"

"You seemed pretty upset with Ivie in there, and you rarely show any emotion. Something was eating at you besides O.W.L.s. You know you could pass those in your sleep." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're freezing."

"Its nothing," Silvia dismissed while trying to gather herself together again. "I just forgot my robe, that's all."

He moved to wrap an arm around her and she didn't protest to the added warmth. She was really quite cold. "Silvia, you shouldn't have snapped like that. It's Ivie. She's about as harmless as a fly."

Silvia's hands went through her hair.

"I know, I know. It's just, I dunno know. I was feeling overwhelmed, all right? Hex me for having a breakdown once in awhile."

"That's the thing, you never have breakdowns. You're always the cool, calculating head in the situation. I think that's why she reacted that way," Evan admitted calmly, while running his hands over her arms to try and warm her up.

They sat in silence for awhile before Silvia gave a laugh.

"You know, if anyone saw us like this, they'd think we actually liked each other."

"Not to mention we'd be in a bit of trouble. You're still dating that, Ravenclaw is it?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I wanted someone smart for a change. And you were dating that girl with the annoying voice. I don't know how you can stand her."

"I find ways to shut her up," said Evan as he grinned mischievously down at Silvia.

"Ew! Too much information!"

- - - - -

Aurelia sat up in her seat and sighed. Looking a few desks to her right she saw Lily, who was still working zealously on her test. Seated in front of her were Potter, Derkson, Silvia, Rosier and Tremming. Behind her, Remus, Black, Pettigrew, Emily and Vouldora—who had her face in her hands.

She had recently been through a break-up with Black, the poor kid. It was a bad pairing, though. Sirius was getting sick of her clinginess. As he put it, he needed space every other minute. Vouldora had been absolutely devastated. While they were dating, for that whole six days, she'd been as giddy as a niffler in a diamond mine.

Turning in her seat so that she faced the right wall, she spotted a Ravenclaw who had been staring at the heartbreaker with a daydreaming face on and Aurelia rolled her eyes.

_Yes, let's all trial headlong after the apathetic mutt_, Lia thought.

Sirius was leaning back in his chair so that only two of the legs were on the ground. He was looking four seats in front of him at James and gave him a thumbs up.

Aurelia caught Sirius' eye suddenly and she raised her eyebrows in an inquisitive way. He grinned and lifted the front of his shirt up, letting if fall back down onto his chest. She cocked one eyebrow, confused. Sirius' grin widened as he made to undo the first two buttons of his shirt, underneath his loosened and slanted tie, and then pointed to her. Aurelia's eyes widened and her hand flew to the top of her blouse. It _was_ unbuttoned, exposing enough of her chest to make any guy who wasn't overanxious about acing their O.W.L. drool. She quickly buttoned it up and looked back to Sirius, who was now pouting. She glared, but her face lightened as she mouthed a "thank you."

Despite how unfeeling he'd been with Maria, she could not shun the troublemaker.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. she had finished had been notably easy. Especially the questions about werewolves, since she had spent two weeks doing independent research on them. She continued to reflect upon the lack of difficulty of the feared O.W.L.s as time ticked by with nothing to do but wait.

Finally, they were dismissed after Professor Flitwick had humorously collected the papers from anxious students wanting to put just _one_ more word down.

_The last O.W.L.! Freedom!_

Everyone was thinking it.

She met up with Lily and Emily and their group with the tearful Maria and comforting Frieda. Lia felt like a betrayer, disloyal, because she was so close to Maria's ex-boyfriend. What did she expect? She wasn't about to destroy a friendship rooted since year one—or was it two? Whatever it had been, it had been long. Aurelia was trying hard to come up with excuses to ease her guilty conscience.

They walked out to the lake, taking off their shoes and dipping their feet in the cool water. Summer with all its pleasant features was about to hit them in the face, comparable to the rays of sunlight shining down from high above their heads.

Of course, _something_ had to happen that would ruin the perfection of the scene and naturally the cause was the Gryffindor Gits.

Silvia referred to the 'Marauders' by that name, a favorite in the House of Snakes. Oftentimes, Lia would catch herself calling them that—sometimes out loud—and she felt so bad about it, she had created a new name for Severus other than 'grease-ball': the Slimy Slytherin. Her housemates had taken quite a liking to it.

It seemed as though those two were about to clash skulls in a few short moments. Gryffindor Gits vs. Slimy Slytherin. It had a nice ring to it.

"Hey Snivellus!" called James.

Lily stiffened and she turned her head to spot the display they would be putting on. Aurelia laughed to herself when she saw James glance over at their group, using his signature hand-swipe to mess up his hair.

Name calling, threats and a few spells later, Lily was up from her seat and walking towards the theatre. Aurelia, against her better judgment, stood up and followed. She wouldn't say anything because Snape's helplessness was amusing her immensely. Lily wouldn't see that. Lia's face remained as serious as that of her friend's, but she would not actively get involved.

"Oy!" Sirius yelled suddenly and blood splattered across James' cheek with a gash in his skin to accompany it. Aurelia put a hand up to her own cheek as if to wipe off the invisible blood lingering there.

By the end of the charade and Lily's gracious, unappreciated gestures, the girl was fuming. She turned around and grabbed Lia's arm tightly, leading her back to the lake. Before she was carried too far away, Aurelia replied to James' "Who wants me to take off Snivellus' pants?" by shouting "Trust me, James, _no one_ wants to see that sight!"

The whole audience was shaking with laughter and Snape, after emitting an audible growl, tumbled to the ground from the lifted spell and return of gravity.

"Why'd you do that, Lia?"

"Why'd you do what you did?"

"Is that really the reason or are you trying to dump the buckets on my fiery mood, because you should know that smoke makes you choke." Before she ended her sentence, Lia had started coughing and gagging, holding her hands to her throat. "Cut it out!"


	13. Weight of the World

**A/N:** In this chapter we used two quotes from different sources. "The emotions aren't always immediately subject to reason..." by William James and "Dangerous is the man..." by David Borenstein. By the way, sorry this chapter is so long! We didn't want to break it up. It's pretty important stuff, here.

* * *

_ Present_

**CHAPTER XIII  
**  
_Weight of the World_

The night following Aurelia's recent discovery of the Death Eater Evan Rosier, she had tried long and hard to get that gruesome smile out of her mind.

There was no denying the fact, because that murderous grin could not have been more genuine. And Silvia, despite her ability to see the faults in others, could not bring herself to believe this of her boyfriend. She wasn't acting like herself.

She was not safe with that man, if indeed he could be titled as one. She did not even realize just how much danger she was in. Aurelia needed to separate them by any means. Who knew what kind of a spell he'd cast on her? Perhaps this was the reason for her denial and neglecting suspicions.

By eight o'clock, _Portkeys_ was trickling down to the last workaholics. Lia told everyone to go home a half an hour later. She had been charged with closing shop. On her way out the doors, she was bombarded by a great black owl, pecking mercilessly at her neck. She twirled around and grabbed the bird by the feet. His wings continued to flap violently until he was held far enough away so that his beak could not peck. The letter was from Dumbledore, announcing to Order members that there would be a meeting that night at ten. Because it was already 9:30, she decided to pop into headquarters a bit early and talk with Dumbledore about a solution to the Rosier problem.

She arrived in front of the big rundown mansion within second, but stayed standing outside of it for a few moments longer. She smiled politely as a Muggle couple walked by with a Great Dane on a leash.

_I wonder what it'd be like to _have_ a dog instead of dating one_, she thought absently.

She entered headquarters when the couple was out of sight, walking through the hall, past the kitchen, through an open door, down another hallway and past the kitchen again.

She was lost.

Going back to the entrance hallway to begin again, she went through the hall, through the kitchen, past the opposite doorway, through the red door and into the meeting room. She wondered briefly how she'd gotten to Dumbledore's office when she _hadn't_ been paying attention.

"They should have street signs or something," she mumbled.

Down the hall to her left, past the practice room and—

"Of course we have to tell her!"

That was Sirius' voice. He was never at a meeting on time, let alone early. Lia was about to step into the covert room when she stopped herself, intrigued about the topic of discussion. She positioned herself next to the door where the conversation was more audible through the wall.

"It's her cousin, you twit!" Sirius said angrily to someone inside. "Not some incidental murderer like Rosier."

"Sirius, perhaps it would be best if we did not shout."

Dumbledore?

"We all want to protect her. She's—well, she's Lia. But I agree with Sirius. She deserves to know the truth."

That was James now.

"She'll be heartbroken!" Apparently all her friends were inside because that voice definitely belonged to Lily. "All those years of hiding their friendship and now they're enemies! I can't put Lia through that, no matter how much I have to lie to keep her happy."

"To say that is both selfish and impractical," said Remus sternly. "Wouldn't you rather see her knowing the truth of Silvia's betrayal and helping her to cope than hiding it so she's ignorant the rest of her life?"

"No! She's gone through enough. How can you justify destroying the little happiness she's got? "

"She deserves to know! Lia would never want us to hide anything from her."

"Try to understand, Lily, that if we keep it from her, she'll find out eventually on her own. Just like she found out about Evan."

"One of these days, we'll be dueling with a couple of Death Eaters and Silvia will be right beside them. You want to wait until that moment to tell Aurelia that her cousin's—"

"One of _his_?"

Lia's voice sounded scratchy and dry. She had come to stand in front of the door and ten pairs of eyes were staring at her, shocked. Dumbledore's were expectant but full of that ever-present pity she had seen countless times before in them, like when he'd told her that her mother was dead or when she'd come to school with that black eye from her abusive father.

"What?" Aurelia said lightly. "Like I wouldn't have 'found out eventually'? It's all right. I know you're all lying. If I could get my hands on some Veritaserum right now you'd all be spitting out how she's just a normal woman who's dating a Death Eater."

Sirius moved in slowly, but she took a step back and he stopped mid-stride.

"You all knew. Every single one of you knew and you thought I shouldn't know? Who are you to make that choice for me? What gave you the right to hide something like that from me! SILVIA! MY COUSIN!—Don't!" Aurelia backed out of the doorway and shook her head from side to side, eyes closed tight. "You…"

She glanced up but shot them a menacing look before she could see their pitying expressions. Without another word, she turned the corner of the hallway and ran, as she had done seven years ago in the Hogwarts corridors. She ran until she reached fresh air, but this time she kept on running.

- - - - -

Anger has a way of influencing everything that the body does. And Silvia was plenty angry, enough so with her lover that she couldn't bring herself to return to their flat. The fact that everyone now knew Aurelia's affiliation with Dumbledore meant that Silvia's own affiliation would be revealed all the sooner.

Her apparition brought her outside of an old, albeit ordinary-looking, building in Muggle London. It was a red-bricked, obsolete department store. The sign hanging precariously off its doors read "Closed for Refurbishment" and had for several centuries. As that was her destination, she approached the window that held an ugly rendition of a human.

Silvia approached the manikin wearing a green pinafore dress. Leaning close to the glass she watched as her breath fogged up the section of window. "Here to see Ivie Davis," she whispered. As she straightened, the dummy nodded minutely and beckoned with a jointed finger. Taking the cue, she stepped through the glass, vanishing from the street.

The usually crowded reception area was deserted due to the hour of the night. She passed by the Welcome Witch sitting behind her desk. The plump blonde woman looked up and gave a nod in recognition which Silvia returned. She'd been at the hospital enough that the witch knew her on sight and trusted she knew where to go.

A sign hanging on the wall confirmed her destination with the floor plan. She wanted the fourth floor for Spell Damage. She made her way to the stairs and climbed until she reached her intended floor. The same procedure was repeated with the witch sitting at the desk there. Her green robe was discarded so late in the night, taking its emblem of crossed wand and bone with it.

Wandering down the hall, Silvia made her way into one of the isolated rooms. Closing the door behind her, she moved to sit in the chair by the bedside. With a sigh, she let her head rest in her hands.

"I've had a horrible day, Ivie," she stated, massaging her temples in the hopes that it would help. "I got into a little spat with Evan. It's nothing I can't resolve later, except I don't know how long that later is going to be."

Standing up, she met the task of tidying up her friend's room. Sometimes the healers at St. Mungo's only saw the patient and the attention they needed, but in order for them to flourish their rooms needed to look nice as well.

"Saw Bella today, she sends her regards. Even baked you a few Cauldron Cakes."

Her response was silence, but she didn't mind. She simply drew out the cakes she had been sent earlier the previous morning. Carefully she set them on the bedside.

"I was thinking about Hogwarts a bit ago…and I'm sorry. For everything." Her hand moved to clutch that of her old schoolmate. It was limp in her hand, like its owner.

Silvia let it return to the bed before stalking to the other side of the room. Her breathing quickened and she could feel a stinging in the back of her eyes. The anger she'd been feeling previously was funneled into a new emotion: regret.

"Merlin, I'm so sorry, Ivie. I never meant…I never meant for this to happen."

Her back hit the wall and her legs began to feel weak. In an attempt to stay in control her hand grappled for something to anchor her, but all it succeeded in was knocking over a vase of dead flowers. She sunk to the ground and her arms curled around, hugging her knees. Her head hit the wall repeatedly and none too softly.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid…I don't know, but things could have turned out differently. You wouldn't hurt a fly, Ivie. You just weren't capable…and now you're here, paying for the sins of your brother. Just 'cause he ran off with some filthy Muggle…" Tears began to fall seamlessly down her face, tracing its contours. "It's all my fault."

She let the tears stream down her face for countless minutes before finally wiping them away with the heels of her hands. She moved over towards the mess she'd made out of the vase, deciding to clean it up the non-magical way, even though the broken glass nicked her several times. She quickly deposited the mess in the waste bin nearby.

A hand went out to stroke Ivie's golden hair which was now matted and straight after lying dormant on a pillow for such an extended period of time.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you. But I promise I'm not going to let this happen to Lia, not like I let it happen to you." She left the room a little neater than when she'd arrived. As she closed the door she whispered, "I'm not losing another friend."

- - - - -

Aurelia sat on the edge of the bench, praying, hoping for some assurance to come that never would. She had been sitting on that bench for over an hour, staring at the ground and at the sky, seeking out an answer in all her pondering that would lead her to believe something different.

Denial had long since abandoned her. It had stayed with her only as a comfort, a cushion to soften the hard fall that came with actualization. She realized this when she thought back on all of Silvia's mysteries she had never asked to uncover. She had been so thick when it came to her cousin. She could not stop the tears from escaping her eyes, but that was all she could do. Allow them to glide off her cheeks in the hope that releasing them would give her some small happiness.

An elderly, destitute man walked past the bench on which she sat, but stopped, unlike the many Muggle passersby in the park.

"Miss?" said his shaky voice.

Lia looked up at him, tears falling lighter now.

"You look a bit peaky. You all right?"

She tried forcibly to smile at him, but she could not find enough strength in her. Instead, she nodded faintly and looked away. Her intention was not to be rude, but there was nothing inside of her that cared anymore.

It was not five minutes later that, after racking through countless memories for which she might criticize her lack of awareness and prudence, she encountered her nightmare. Its careful evaluation caused Aurelia more pain from such insight.

Sirius never intended to kill her, but his betrayal of trust hurt almost as much. Dumbledore's message supplied her with the concealed knowledge that she was alone. Not altogether, but in order to face these obstacles, she could not ask the help of anyone. She had to find her place and defeat the demons dragging her down. If she could not, she would remain a porcelain figurine: dependant, delicate, useless. Aurelia could not stand the thought of such a wasted future.

The upcoming battle had already begun. Silvia was her obstacle and there was only one thing Aurelia could do with an obstacle.

Face it.

- - - - -

The red door burst open at precisely quarter to eleven and Aurelia, without sparing a single glance to anyone in the room, took a seat among a few stunned members. Dumbledore's hesitance could hardly have been mistaken as such, for he continued promptly before anyone else in the room was again settled.

Lia listened to his speech carefully, but did not hear a single word of it. This unnerved and upset her, so much so that she had thought to interrupt numerous times and ask what exactly he had been talking about. She sat quietly, staring at the front of the room, but unable to see anything there.

As the meeting drew to a close, Aurelia stood and walked out the door, passing through this hallway and that until she finally reached a familiar-looking office. The annoyance of finding it quickly seceded from her mind as she sat herself down in the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk. Her fingers tapped rhythmically on the arm, creating the beat to an Irish lullaby to which she began humming softly in her throat. Tears brimmed her eyes, very few passing beyond her lower lashes now. She heard voices outside the door and in various other hallways. They were talking routinely as if a colossal secret had not just been unveiled and the world was not falling to pieces from under them.

_They already knew_, she thought bitterly.

Feeling his presence before he acknowledged her, Aurelia opened her mouth to produce a statement that had taken her more than thirty minutes to create. She could not come up with one word, but had she been able to, her mouth would not have formed it.

"I do not pretend to understand the struggle you are going through," said Dumbledore gently. He had closed the door so that their conversation would be private. "I would, however, like to offer any help that I can provide."

She hesitated. She had not spoken in over two hours and her throat felt like cement.

"You can help me find Silvia."

Dumbledore sat in the chair behind his desk and sighed, shaking his head sadly. "You are not ready."

"What do you mean, 'not ready'?" Aurelia asked, loudly. "She's my cousin. I can speak with her whenever I please."

"Consider your emotions, Miss Colton. You are the farthest you have ever been from composed in your entire life. You are angry, frightened, hurt and all the while confused. It is understandable…quite expected. No one is rushing you to do the right thing. You are not being forced to choose. Yet."

"The right thing?"

Aurelia asked this in a hallowed voice which concealed all the ranges of emotions he had listed. She felt cold seep into her. What did she plan to do once she found Silvia? She had not thought anything through. The next time she encountered that woman, she did not know what she would do, but she knew it would be reckless. There was the prospect that she would get someone, possibly herself, killed as a result. She did not want to be the cause. With no intention of murder brushing her mind, she wondered just what Dumbledore believed she would do.

"And what, pray tell, is this right thing that I will be doing?"

"Aurelia, to position yourself on the game board without a trustworthy alliance is your admittance to the victory of your opponent."

"We're not playing chest, Dumbledore!" Lia yelled. "If you plan to be cryptic with me…"

"Emotions aren't always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action."

"Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions," Lia countered.

Dumbledore laid his elbows on the desk and formed his hands into the shape of a steeple. "I do not know your plans, but I do know that you cannot isolate yourself from the people you love because you believe you cannot trust them. The _only_ reason we did not enlighten you on the subject before was because we were protecting you."

"From the truth?"

"From what you might have done. I thought it best not to include the information as incentive for you to take up membership. I know I have not yet earned it, but please trust me. You are not ready to confront your cousin."

Aurelia blinked out of her stupor and watched Dumbledore's pleading eyes carefully. No matter how badly she needed to face Silvia, she needed more time. At this point, she was heartrending. Nothing good would come from their encounter.

She stood up and made her way around the chair, opening the door and slipping out quickly. Rushing, she wanted to get out of headquarters as soon as was humanly possible. Of course, she hadn't taken the usual complications into account and before she knew it she was being taunted by a grease-head in black robes.

"What's the matter, Colton?" he sneered spitefully. "You look like you just found out your cousin's a Death Eater."

Aurelia threw back her shoulder in order to strike him bodily but her wand-hand remained low so she could hex when he was unprepared.

The movement happened so fast Lia had no time to counter it. Sirius had grabbed her around the stomach and pulled her back while James had snatched her wand out of her hand. She struggled in her lover's arms for a release and fought his strength. Finally, his muscles relaxed and she broke free of the fleshy cage. Demanding the wand from James, she seized it back and walked past Severus with a baleful glare.

"You don't watch it," Sirius directed at Snape as he watched Aurelia walk down the hallway, "and we won't be here next time to save your worthless skin, toerag."

"I think I'm quite capable of dueling an emotionally disturbed female whose entire spell vocabulary is based on classes at Hogwarts."

"And where's yours based?" James asked with an added glower. "_The Dark Lord?_"

Snape returned the statement with a scowl and walked past them to get to Dumbledore's office. James and Sirius looked on, but the latter rubbed his arms up and down. His friend glanced at him with curiosity and asked a simple, "What?"

"She really hurt me," he said, holding out his arms for James to see. There were several nicks where skin had been ripped which were beginning to bleed and a few red spots suggested the appearance of the bruises to come.

- - - - -

It was peaking into the early hours of the morning when Silvia returned to her flat. She'd walked for what seemed like hours around Muggle London. Throughout that period she'd been trying to come up with a plan for Aurelia, a way to get her out. A way to keep her alive.

She came up blank.

Entering the apartment the Muggle way, with keys, she threw her coat off and onto the closest surface she saw. Her back hit the door and she slid down its length, until she was sitting on the floor, legs crumpled underneath her. Her fingers fisted in the material of her clothes, willing herself not to let another tear touch her face. She'd already shed too many that night.

"We've got a coat rack for a reason you know."

Eyes that had previously been hidden snapped up to look at the flat's other occupant. She'd hoped he would be gone by now. A scathing retort was on her tongue faster than her brain could process, but if she got into another argument with him, her hold on her emotions would break. So she kept silent.

With a flick, her coat hung itself on the rack whilst footsteps drew nearer.

"See that wasn't so hard? You could have done that yourself, Via," Evan stated as he approached.

Noting the fact that she still refused to talk to him, he crouched before her. In response she turned her head away, choosing not to look at him either. His slim fingers latched underneath her chin to make her eyes meet his. She stared at him in steely defiance.

"You know this is childish. Eventually you'll have to talk to me."

Sighing, Evan let go of her chin. He only did this to then grasp her shoulders and haul her upright. She hissed in response and struggled out of his grasp, but he caught her arm and dragged her back towards him before she could leave farther.

"Get your hands off of me," Silvia growled.

"So you _can_ talk? That's nice to know."

His hands went around her waist and bodily lifted her up into a fireman's hold across his shoulder. He started walking away from the door.

"Evan, put me the hell down or I'll hex you into the floor!"

He chuckled, making her shake along with him. "That'd be a lot more threatening, Silvia, if you hadn't just left your wand in your coat."

"Pox and death! I hate you!" Silvia screamed, balling her fists and hitting the muscles on his back. It didn't seem to have any effect. If she'd been allowed the use of her feet, she would have kicked him. Unfortunately, he'd thought of that and trapped them beneath an arm when he'd picked her up.

Suddenly they stopped walking. They were in the bathroom. Evan reached out and opened the door to the shower. He stepped in and deposited Silvia in the middle of the shower and then stepped out. Retrieving his wand from a pocket, he locked the door. Then he turned on the water and set it to cold. She screamed in outrage and banged against the siding of the shower. He simply ignored her as he leaned against a wall.

"You're acting like a child. When your tantrum is done we can talk about this, like reasonable adults."

"Reasonable adults don't lock their girlfriends in the shower with the water running!" she yelled over the thrum of the water. Already she was soaked to the bone and it was doing nothing to improve her mood. All she'd wanted to do was come back and go to sleep. She didn't want to have to deal with this; she didn't want to deal with any of this.

"I can't hear you over your childlike attitude, Silvia!"

Evan just stood there, watching as she screamed and promised bloody murder when she finally got out. He knew she meant it, but eventually she'd come around and see what a prat she was being.

Silvia crossed her arms and glared at the man outside the shower. "I'm going to kill you when you let me out of here Rosier," she said, waiting for her barb to hit, but if it did he didn't show any sign.

Several minutes were met by silence between the two of them. The only thing making any noise was the water hitting against her and the siding. Alas, cold water after a certain amount of time elicits a reaction from the body. Silvia began to shiver under the water's stream. She ignored it, hoping that seeing her like this would cause him to rethink his actions.

He didn't, though.

Growling, Silvia turned around to try and change the temperature but found the knob set firmly on freezing. She looked back at her lover until a particularly violent shake ran through her body. It was then that she sank down into the porcelain tub, huddling into herself to conserve some sort of warmth. Her head was bowed and her eyes were closed. Hands found their way into her hair, clutching at it as if it were the source of her troubles.

She didn't even notice when the water changed its temperature. She didn't notice that the hot tears running down her face mingled with warmed water droplets. It reminded her of rain. A remembrance of how the rain had never fallen in her life. She knew it wouldn't now—she didn't deserve it. She didn't think she would ever be able to accept the salvation that came with it, she was in too deep. Maybe it was the fact that the rain would never come that was causing her this deep hurt. Or perhaps it was the fact that sooner or later she'd have to hurt Aurelia.

Silvia was beginning to numb to the pain by now. She felt hollow and her eyes reflected that.

The water stopped and the door opened. Evan came through with a towel, which he wrapped around her before bringing her out of the shower. He lowered them both to the floor, placing her in his lap. She curled unconsciously to his frame. He meanwhile began to dry off portions of her skin with another towel.

"Why does this have to happen?" Her voice was hoarse and small after the screaming. She sounded weak, unlike the confident woman she usually was.

His hand went through her hair. "Because the world isn't fair, pet," he whispered, stroking at the wet locks, trying in vain to comfort her but knowing full and well it wouldn't do any good.

Like a child, she bit her lip and clutched at his shirt. It felt nice to be warm again, to have someone who cared about her. "I don't know if she'll ever forgive me. And, I don't want to lose someone else."

Evan pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"You'll always have me. _Always_."

They sat on the bathroom floor until Silvia's clothes were long past dried, each knowing that things would inexplicably change in their lives.

- - - - -

"Aurelia?" Remus called into the wood, his forehead pressed up against her apartment door. He knocked several more times. His temples had been throbbing ever since ten. Remus spared a glance to his right wrist and saw it was two o'clock. He suddenly realized how loud he was being, so he lowered his voice. "Aurelia, _please!_"

Remus picked his head up as he heard a bolt unlock and a door open, but was disappointed when he saw it was 128.

"What in bloody hell do you possibly have to talk to her about this late?"

Lia's neighbor, a portly fellow in a deep blue bathrobe, didn't look too happy with the racket outside his flat.

Thinking quickly, the wizard tried to slap off the apologetic look on his face.

"Her only grandfather just died, so if you don't mind…"

That sobered him up. He gave his condolences and was about to shuffle back into his room when the number plate 127 disappeared from Remus' sight as the door slammed against the adjacent wall inside. Aurelia came into focus in its place, leaning slanted against the frame. She wore trainer shorts and a black, lacy bra and her hair was tied back into a messy bun.

"My God, Remus, what are you doing out there?" Aurelia asked, her voice somewhat slurred. She held up a beer bottle, nearly knocking Remus upside the head with it. "You'll catch your death…hold on! I'll get you a blanket."

She left Remus standing in the doorway awkwardly. Her neighbor stood at his own door, looking from the retreating Lia to her visitor quizzically.

He laughed nervously, saying, "She's a bit drunk." Sighing, Remus stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him. Upon entering he spotted several _empty_ bottles of sherry among various paperwork scattered across the table.

"What did you do to yourself, Lia?" he whispered.

"Funny you should ask," Aurelia said from behind him, making Remus jump. She put the bottle she held up to her lips, but did not drink. Setting the beer down, she began pacing. Remus watched her carefully as she ranted. "I was thinking, because…I do that, sometimes. I thought, 'Wow! I don't have a purpose in life'. So, here I was in the middle of some park, crying my eyes out because I find out my bloody cousin's a Death Eater, and I'm thinking the world's got no place for me. And—and you figure after awhile I'd turf out the idea, but I get in a flap about it, right? Then some nutter walks by and tells me I look peaky. Peaky! Doesn't surprise me, since I was in such a state. But I go whinging to Dumbledore about the whole damn thing and he tells me I have to wait. That I need _time_. Like I have time, Remus! Remus, I don't…I'm not ready yet. I can't do it all! There's too much there for one person. I'll go mad!"

Remus stepped in front of her, catching her by the shoulders in mid-pace. He bent down to look her straight in the eye.

"Lia," he said softly, smelling the alcohol on her breath. "I came here because I was worried about you. I wanted to see how you're taking this whole thing. Obviously, it isn't going so well. But I need to know: what can't you handle?"

She lowered her eyes as if in concentration, but they fell on something else.

"Remus…where's my shirt?"

"Aurelia—"

"I swear I had it on a second ago."

"Aurelia, focus!" Remus said firmly, shaking her shoulders a little. "Why are you going to go mad?"

Again, she tried to concentrate, shifting her stare to the windows. "I'm a tool," she answered in a small voice.

"What do you mean?" He loosened his grip slightly as he watched her.

"Dumbledore says he needs a place to hide it. Somewhere safe, locked away, so that You-Know-Who can't get to it so easy. He says I can help."

"What is it?"

"Information. Something…" she shut her eyes tightly so that wrinkles formed on the sides of each eyelid. "Something about Horcruxes. I don't know what they are, exactly, but he needs me to remember names, dates, places. He can't risk…but there's so many."

Seeing that she was about ready to burst into tears, Remus pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back gently as she cried into his shirt. After awhile, he ushered her to her room and laid her down on the bed. Before he even turned out the lights, she had fallen asleep and he could hear her soft breathing from the doorway.

He made his way out of the flat and as soon as he stepped out of the building, apparated to headquarters, intent on speaking with Dumbledore.

- - - - -

Dreams are the way the subconscious takes to solving problems not resolved during bouts of consciousness. The simple fact that dreaming of something for an extended period of time causes a person to fulfill that desire is a testament to that.

It was during her dreams that Silvia reached a resolution to her predicament.

With the appearance of change, she acted as if the previous day never happened. She'd woken up to find herself in bed, somewhere she never remembered reaching the previous night. Evan was beside her, his arm looped lazily around her waist in an act of security. She had to smile slightly at his sleeping form. He was one of the only people who could wrestle with her when she was in one of her moods. Most other people, men and women alike, just left her to her own devices.

Leaving the bed's warmth, she forewent a shower after her impromptu one before. She dressed in simple clothes to blend in better with the surrounding world and made her way to the other rooms. Silvia almost forgot the whereabouts of her wand, before remembering it had remained in her coat pocket the entire time. She stuck it in her back pocket and proceeded lazily to the kitchen.

Once there, she went about preparing a small breakfast so she'd at least have some strength for the trip she planned to make that day. It was most likely this action that caused the one flaw in her plan. Evan walked into the room.

He leaned back and watched as she fried herself a pair of eggs in the skillet, foregoing the magical way.

"You know, keeping your wand there could cause accidents."

"And wouldn't that be just a shame?"

"It would," he said as he approached her to take a bite out of the toast she'd already prepared. "I happen to like your butt just as it is."

He playfully nipped at her ear.

Silvia laughed. She flipped her newly finished eggs onto a plate with now half a piece of toast. "I guess you just ruined a chance for breakfast in bed."

Evan grinned, "It doesn't exactly look like you were making enough for both of us, Via."

She scoffed. "I could have made more. Hey! Stop that!" She grabbed the remainder of her toast from his hand to keep it away from his mouth. "I was making breakfast for a reason, you know!"

"And what would that be?"

"I've got a big day ahead of me," she said, beaming brightly, not allowing any of her true intentions to shine through.

"And my eating a piece of toast affects that horribly? Somehow, I doubt that." Evan noticed how she looked away for an instant and he gave her a patronizing stare. "Silvia, what are you planning?"

"Me?" she asked in disbelief. "Nothing! Why would you say that?"

"Because I know that look."

"You're just a little off your rocker since last night's festivities. I'll make it up to you later. For now, I've got to run!" She gave him kiss before heading towards the door. She apparated with an audible _pop_, intent on making her dream a reality.

- - - - -

It had taken most of the day to locate the person she wanted to meet with and even at that, it hadn't quite worked out in her favor. So here she was, in Ireland, sitting in the stands of a Quidditch field, waiting for the team to end practice. She had business to attend to with their Keeper.

Her attendance at the pitch did not go unnoticed by the players, though. Some had even flown a little closer than necessary to the stand to find out who was watching them. Silvia had only grinned in response. As the practice ended, the players gravitated towards the ground and she uprooted herself from her seat and began the trek towards them.

"Who do you think that is?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't mine gettin' her flat number," said one of the chasers, elbowing a beater with a suggestive wink.

The team's female members simply rolled their eyes and made for the locker rooms. The males waited, striking a pose. The Keeper was still collecting some of the components of the game. As the feminine figure finally reached their group, she stopped. Removing her sunglasses, she revealed striking grey eyes.

"Well hello there."

"Hello yourself," one of the players greeted while his chin leaned over his broom handle.

Silvia smiled amicably. "I was wondering if you boys could help me locate someone."

"And that would be who, exactly?" Another asked while giving her an award-wining smile.

"Romey Colton."

The group groaned. The one with shockingly red hair was the first to speak. "You don't want him. He's married—children and a white picket fence. How's about we take you out instead."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I've got to talk with him." Silvia thought the bunch of them were cute but just not her taste. Not to mention she had Evan waiting at home and she was actually here for a purpose that meant a damn to her.

They made faces of disappointment before one of them turned back to look at the wayward Keeper. "Hey Romey! There's a woman here to see you!" he shouted loud enough that a charm wasn't even necessary. He had obviously done that sort of thing before.

"What's her name?" Romey shouted back as he carried the Quidditch case back towards the group. He wasn't in any hurry to find out who the visitor was, even though his curiosity was peaked.

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Silvia," she answered, knowing full and well her cousin would take this news worse than anything else. Throughout the years they had never really seen eye to eye. The only thing keeping them from doing anything drastic to one another was Aurelia.

"It's Silvia!" the man shouted back.

The Keeper's response was interesting indeed. Not to mention that he'd slowed down considerably upon hearing the woman's name. "What color's her hair?"

"Why do you want to know what color her bloody hair is?" He received no response. He muttered a curse under his breath before taking a look at her in order to answer the inquiry. "It's blue…er, actually more on the navy side, really."

Romey finally reached the group. He deposited the box on the ground before looking at the young woman. "Nice to know you picked a lasting color."

Silvia smirked. Her cousin knew full and well about her slew of hair dyes throughout her Hogwarts years. Aurelia had no doubt told him about the various styles. "What? No hello hug for your cousin?"

"What do you want?" He looked down at her, not even noticing that his teammates seemed to think he should take up the suggestion with the shooing motions they made.

"To talk, dear heart." She looped her arm through one of his and then started walking towards the end of the field. Her grip was tight enough that he had to oblige and keep up. She turned and gave a good-bye wave to the others.

The man who had previously been leaning on his broom watched with the assembly as they walked away. "Damn, that's his cousin? Lucky bastard."

"Have you seen his sister? The guy's got…"

The conversation trailed off as they made the hike towards the locker room. No doubt the women were already long gone.

Silvia laughed. "All right, now that that's taken care of, I need to talk to you about Aurelia."

"What about her? I swear if you've done anything—"

She placed her hands on her hips in mild indignation and annoyance. He always jumped to conclusions with her. Just because most of the time she did something horrible didn't mean it would happen every time.

"Now why would I hurt her? She's my cousin for goodness sake! The reason I'm here is to make sure Aurelia remains unharmed."

Romey hesitated before saying, "I'm listening."

- - - - -

Aurelia found it both strange and discomforting that when she walked out of her flat, the nosy Muggle in 128, who had been leaning against his door that morning, had winked at her as if they were having some risky love affair like in the movies. She disregarded the gesture as being unintended for her.

Her head still ached painfully even though her night of festivities had been several days previous. That morning she had decided she would return to the Order meetings and try to account for her horrible behavior, but she still could not forgive anyone.

Every now and then she would unknowingly brake into silent sobs. She had walked to The Leaky Cauldron on Thursday afternoon and almost the moment she stepped into the inn, the tears began to fall. A handsome gentleman helped her to a seat across the room from the cousin's meeting spot. Just when she had settled back down, Tom had asked her if the other Colton was joining her, and once more her eyes blurred.

Today would be different, though. She had decided she had spent all the excess water in her system. She would not cry again.

Walking into the alley behind her apartment building, Lia apparated into the front yard of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Despite the fact that she had done it so many times before, she could not bring herself to take one step closer. Fighting herself wasn't helping either, so she just stood there, staring at the overwhelming, magically-protected mansion. Her mind was a black canvas. The only thought that came to her was, _I haven't eaten all day_.

She was shocked from her silence by two consecutive _pops._

"Lia…"

She heard Lily's voice nearly crack as she said the name, but the giant hug she received was the sign that Aurelia wouldn't have to apologize for anything she might have done in days previous.

James stood back and gazed at the flabbergasted look on his friend's face as his wife strangled her in a tight embrace.

"As much as Aurelia is undoubtedly glad to see you, love," said James quietly, "I think you might be choking her."

Lily released her and stepped back.

"I'm sorry, Lia. I shouldn't have—"

Aurelia ignored her and without a word, stepped back into Lily's arms. She spotted James' satisfied smile out of the corner of her eye. Betraying her promise, she let go and a few tears fell onto Lily's shirt. Feeling them drop, Lily placed a hand on Aurelia's head and let her cry into her shoulder.

A few minutes later they appeared at the door of headquarters. Lia wiped her eyes so as not to attract attention, and laughed, almost numbly, saying, "I've been crying on just about everyone lately."

The door opened and Sirius appeared. Aurelia looked up at him, her eyes still watery, but quickly she side-stepped past him into the hall before he could get out a 'hey, love'. He tried to follow, but James grabbed his shoulder and held him back, softly saying, "Give her time, mate."

Aurelia had been halfway down the hall when she heard James whisper the statement that was undoubtedly meant to be sensitive, but she couldn't shake the feeling. She stopped dead in her tracks, spun around, walking right back to where Sirius still stood. Just before their hands instinctively curved around each others faces and their lips locked, Aurelia muttered, "I don't have time to waste."

- - - - -

It was a disgrace. Igor Karkaroff had been captured by Aurors. Not that it was a surprise. The man was as scary as a limp worm, about as useful too. Silvia certainly wouldn't waste her breath missing him and his attitude. He could talk the talk but not even come close to walking the walk. It was amusing, really.

Except that this was his fault.

A group of them were out to see if they could locate any sort of Auror to extract Karkaroff's whereabouts. It wasn't out of camaraderie or loyalty to him; it was simply because, having the spine of a worm, he would certainly give away valuable information to the Ministry. He would have to be silenced.

So here they were, Evan, Wilkes, Snape, Rodolphus and Silvia, approaching a Ministry worker's house which was curiously set off from much of the wizarding world. Apparently they liked their privacy, but it would serve the Death Eater's purpose just fine.

Not caring much for secrecy in the seclusion surrounding them, they opted for the front door. Wilkes moved towards the door and felt it turn under his hand. He looked back with a grin. "Easy as pie."

When the door opened, Wilkes didn't have time to see the red sparks that flew at his chest. He went fell backwards and one of the others bent down to drag him away from the door. Silvia drew out her wand and muttered, "_Rennervate!_" watching as he came back to consciousness. "Come on, move back. Someone's inside."

Evan raised his wand and pointed it at the house. "_Incendio!_" He cast the spell and immediately the house was aflame. "We'll see who's inside now."

They all had their wands out; Wilkes for the most part recovered as a group of Aurors flooded from the door. They already had wands out and at the ready. Among them, Silvia recognized Mad-Eye Moody, Shacklebolt and Williamson. The two others were unknown. No doubt unimportant in the long run.

"We've been set up," Rodolphus growled as he looked across at the assembled group.

"Let's give them a warm welcome then." Silvia smirked as she pointed towards Williamson. "_Crucio!_"

He screamed, falling to his knees and then toppling to the ground. That action seemed to stir all the others into action. Everyone picked out an enemy to duel.

Evan was pitted against Mad-Eye, Rodolphus and Kingsley were already fighting tooth and nail, Snape and Wilkes each were with one of the unknowns. They would just be getting used to fighting Death Eaters. Luckily for them, this would probably be the last time they would have to.

Silvia stalked closer to Williamson, letting go of the curse for a moment. She crouched next to him. "Poor dear," she said as she ran a nail down the side of his face. "Want me to relieve the pain?"

His reply was a groan and she laughed. He brought up his wand and muttered out the incantation of a blasting curse. He sat on his elbows as he watched the navy-haired witch get shot across the clearing. Slowly, he made his way to a tree, using it and the ground for the majority of his support. He used the trunk to haul himself upright and rest his weight. Noticing how she was stirring from the ground, he brought up his wand again.

"Now that wasn't nice," Silvia growled as she picked herself off the ground. She made her way towards him, noticing how her pace had slowed almost a stop. As it was, she was going the pace of a snail that was stuck in molasses.

"Oh, real brilliant. Impediment Curse. I'm quaking."

She whispered the counter curse and flexed her legs. She looked up to see a wand pointed at her again. She threw herself out of its path just in time to let the red sparks travel past where her body would have previously been.

From the ground, she moved so that her wand arm was free. "_Avis_," she said, letting the little birds occupy the Auror while she got her footing again. She smirked and sent a barrage of arrows shooting from her wand towards him. In turn, he managed to blast them before they hurled themselves any closer. He was unable, however, to stop the body bind that hit his chest.

Watching him fall, Silvia decided to let him live for the present time. They needed someone to question about this mishap and he would do nicely. She pointed her wand at him again and let vines wrap around his body, subduing him incase he somehow undid the effects of the bind.

Silvia left him lying there and went to go help one of her fellows. She was just approaching Wilkes, who was looking around in search of his Auror, when she saw the man in question approach behind him. He quickly pointed his wand at Wilkes and yelled, "_Avada Kedavra!" _

She screamed.

It wasn't a frightened scream, more of shock and anger. True, the Aurors were given the right to use the Killing Curse in order to fight fairly with Death Eaters, but most preferred not to stoop to their level. This, for the most part, worked nicely for them. Silvia charged the Auror, who simply apparated before he could be caught.

Quickly, Silvia knelt down by Wilkes. She checked his vitals. There were none. Half the time the Ministry dimwits didn't have the drive to actually perform an effective curse. Apparently, this one had succeeded. She wiped a navy lock from her face, while dragging her hand across the fallen friend's eyes, shutting them from the world. She placed a kiss to his forehead before standing. She was in time to see the Auror freeing the previously captive Williamson.

"Bastard," she seethed, stalking nearer to the pair. They had both apparated before she could take any revengeful measures against them. Hearing the _pop_ of their return a little farther off, she turned. Her eyes fell upon a scene she wished she hadn't witnessed.

They had both gone to surround Evan along with Moody. The older Auror looked peeved at their intervention, but accepted the help nonetheless. They wrestled Evan to the ground. All the while, he struggled. Finally, he was still and they began to bind his hands.

"You're under arrest," one of them stated. Silvia was sure it was the same prick that had killed Wilkes. They enjoyed causing harm to others.

Evan held a smirk which went unnoticed in the darkness. He lashed out with his legs, taking the footing of Williamson. He stood up in a flurry and punched Wilkes' killer in the face. Then he turned his wand on Moody. He hit him will a spell and the man screamed; something fell from his face.

Wilkes' killer regained his footing and dug into his robes, producing a knife. His eyes were crazed as he ran at Evan, who grabbed his arm and slung him over his hip. The knife fell, forgotten, lodged upright between tree roots.

Moody had let go of his face, to glare at the Death Eater. He brought his wand up and sent a spell at Evan. The dark-skinned man was forced to roll to the ground. In effect he went towards the tree. The Auror sent a blasting curse at him, knocking him backwards when he had just regained his footing. He flew into the tree and slid down. He remained unmoving.

The Auror walked over towards him, cautiously, as if this was a trick.

It wasn't.

He bent down to see the young man choking on the blood that was coming out of his mouth. Turning him slightly, which earned a bitten back cry; he saw the knife dug deep into the man's chest. He stood up with a rueful look on his face. Moody did not relish the wanton killing of others, whether they deserved it or not.

Silvia screamed and whirled to find Wilkes' killer. Raising her wand, she pointed it and hissed, "_Avada Kedavra!_" Immediately a jet of green light was sent straight into the man's body. He fell to the ground, stone cold. She rushed over to where her lover was. Moody had the good sense to apparate away before she reached him. She knelt down beside Evan, running her hand down his face and to his chest. She felt the warm liquid of his life slipping away from him.

"No, no! You can't leave me!"

She looked into his eyes and his hand found hers, giving it a weak squeeze. His mouth moved, but all that came out was blood. It was moments before his eyes closed and did not reopen. His chest didn't rise for any of the labored breathing he had been sustained by.

"Oh, Merlin, NO!" She fisted her hands in his robes, shaking his frame in the hopes of bringing him back. She didn't notice that the Aurors had gathered themselves together and left. Neither did she notice that the two remaining Death Eaters were making their way towards her.

Rodolphus stopped Severus a few feet from where Silvia and Evan lay. "Severus, perhaps I should handle her. Go and get Wilkes' body."

Snape sent a look back at the pair before grudgingly nodding. No doubt the woman would lash out at anyone that got near her. He could do without the bruises.

Cautiously Rodolphus approached, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Silvia, we have to go."

"No. We're not leaving until Evan wakes up."

"Silvia, he's dead." He spoke in a soft voice, like that used for a child.

She turned around to glare at him with narrowed grey eyes. "You're lying. This is just a dream." She turned back to Evan and pressed herself against his cooling form. "Just a dream, a nightmare. It's not real."

Rodolphus knelt down beside her. "It's not a dream. It's real. He's dead, Silvia."

Silvia seemed to accept that as she let him wrap an arm around her shoulders in comfort. She let his warmth surround her. It was nice to have someone who cared about her. Evan was always thoughtful like that. She looked up, wanting to see his gorgeous, dark eyes. Instead, she found the cool eyes of Rodolphus. She screamed and tried to get away from him. His arms tightened around her as he managed to stand up. She kicked and scratched at him all the while.

He flinched but said nothing. He brought her as far as he could from Evan's body. The constant reminder would do worse for her than anything else. She tried to break free, tried to run back to Evan. After what seemed like forever, she stopped struggling against his hold. Sobs escaped her throat and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her knees gave way and she was only held up by his arms.

"He said he'd always be there…always! Where is he now? He left me…he left me all alone!"

"You're not alone Silvia, you've still got Bella and I, Lucius, Cissa, and everyone else. We'll get them back," he said softly.

"I know Rudy…but I don't think it's enough. I want to hurt something…someone. Where's Severus? He'll do…Maybe I'll dunk him in water until all that grease is out of his hair…Did you see that last git? I got him good with a Killing Curse to his chest. Never saw it coming…I can't wait to tell Evan about it. He'll be thrilled…" Her eyes were unfocused as she rambled on.

He let her trample through her thoughts before she realized once again that Evan was gone. That he was never coming back. They went to the ground and she allowed him to hug her, letting him be her support. She was letting everything out.

But as she did, she could feel her heart hardening as the pieces lay broken. The rain was never coming for her. No longer did it matter that her cousin was in the Order, she had already solved that problem with Romey. If that didn't work out, she didn't mind as much anymore. No, now she had lost the one thing in her life that made her feel incredible. She'd lost the only man she had ever loved, the only man that had cared fully for her. Evan Rosier was dead, and with it Silvia vowed to lose herself so much that the rain would never be able to find her, never be able to save her.

* * *

**A/N:** Reviews are very much appreciated! Hey, flame us if you want, just click the button!  



	14. In Your Eyes

_Past_

**CHAPTER XIV  
**  
_In Your Eyes_

"Back off, sleaze!" Aurelia yelled, while pushing Danny Roven away from her.

Tremming's group of friends had been badgering her endlessly for a week since the student's return to the castle. Danny had gotten on her last nerve when he started following her. When he made to lift up the back of her skirt, she had turned around and shoved him back into his friends. She automatically grabbed for her wand, but it was not in her pocket. She looked up at Roven, who twirled it in his fingers with a grin.

"Don't you have some slut to pay?"

"Ya know, I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Lia. I'm running a bit low on cash lately, but I was wondering if you do—"

"Finish that sentence and you'll regret ever thinking it."

All four guys made 'ooo' sounds and laughed behind him. Danny leered and stepped closer.

"I dunno," he said, his eyes roaming her chest. He took a step closer and Aurelia took a step back. "Will it make you angrier if I do? 'Cuz the fury makes for one hot—"

Roven grabbed her shoulders and moved into the curve of her body, squeezing her arms hard enough to make her gasp.

"Stop it! Geroff me!"

The struggle made her drop her rucksack and she tried to stomp on his instep, but his feet kept shifting across the floor. Placing his hands tightly around her elbows so that she couldn't bend them, he made to move his head closer in order to kiss her. She turned away and tried to push him backward, but he was holding on too tight. Her teeth grit, but all the guys just laughed at her. As Danny pressed his lips to her skin, beginning to lick the side of her face, she suddenly felt his hands release their grip and his body was shoved away from her.

"Stay off her, pillock," Sirius said venomously.

Aurelia looked up to find an unfamiliar sight: the boy's face looked absolutely vicious. After Roven had regained his balance, he stood face to face with Sirius, grinning.

"What's the matter, Black? You want her for yourself? After all, you are a…marauder."

"Touch her again and you'll find out why your house is named after a bird, and why mine isn't."

Danny put up his hands as Sirius pulled out his wand. He knew better than to initiate the situation ahead unless he enjoyed visiting Madam Pomfrey. "Hey, mate, I just wanted a peek. Eric says it's a nice view and from what I can tell…"

"I'll give you berks thirty seconds to get out of here before I start hexing your arses all the way back to West Tower."

Roven and his group backed away slowly, his eyes still on Aurelia. After he smirked, he turned around and continued walking. Without a word or the slightest hint of movement, Aurelia's wand flew out of Roven's hand. Sirius caught it in midair and handed it back to Aurelia. When Roven turned around, Sirius just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Twenty-three, twenty-four…"

Lia thought she saw their pace quicken a bit.

When they were out of sight, she picked up her bag from the ground and walked to Sirius, putting her hands around his chest. His body sort of stiffened beside her, but he let his arms relax and wrap around her as well. When they separated, Aurelia sighed deeply and smiled up at him.

"Thanks, Sirius."

"Any time," he said, with a quick return of the smile. His expression then turned serious as he said, "Those guys so much as bump into you…"

"I'll let you know."

"Damn right you will."

They began walking down the corridor in the opposite direction of their next class.

"When did _you_ become the hero?"

"When _you_ became the damsel in distress."

"You joking? I had the situation completely under control."

"Was that before or after Roven started licking your face?"

Aurelia pushed Sirius into the wall, saying, "Shut it!"

Neither could hide their smirks and all the way down the corridor they were teasing each other, never giving one another a break. Until of course Professor McGonagall, who happened to be filling in for a sick prefect, found them loitering and sent them off to class.

- - - - -

Over the next two weeks, the pair of them had been quickly growing closer in more intimate ways than friends usually grew. They chanced to end up next to or across from each other at meals. They walked to classes together even if they didn't take the same ones.

When spotted dropping Lia off at her desk, Sirius was often asked by a disgruntled and confused Professor Gevrit what he was doing in a N.E.W.T. Ancient Runes class. His reply was, "Just thought I'd expand my knowledge on the concept of reading these giant rocks, sir. How _does_ one go about translating the thrilling text?" More than once, his brilliant imitation of the poor teacher had resulted in him being chased from the classroom, leaving a party of laughing schoolmates in his wake.

James had noticed the attention his best friend had been giving Aurelia and was quick to take the mickey out of him when he came back to the common room one afternoon. Surprisingly, however, Sirius took the browbeating rather well and James thought, because of the things he had said the previous day, that he was the reason Sirius asked Lia to be his girlfriend.

The school, seeing this coming a mile away, was not particularly shocked at the news. Tremming and his friends made sure they were well away from Aurelia at all times for fear of feeling the wraith of the protective boyfriend. It was bad enough when she hadn't been seeing him.

When Lia finally told Silvia in person, she got the retort she had expected.

"You can do better than Black," she said carelessly.

"Oh _really?_" Lia said, smiling. "And who would you say is better?"

"Just about anyone."

Aurelia gasped in a mock-hurt way.

"You've always said it's not the brains or the heart you count. It's the bloody looks." At that, they both laughed. "If you say Sirius is not the most handsome fiend you've ever laid eyes on, I swear you've gone mental."

"He's all right," she said with a sly grin as Aurelia watched her with expectant eyes. "For a Gryff."

"Oh, and I supposed you've got a contender in the snake pile, have you?"

"As a matter of fact…"

"_Please_ don't tell me you've gone googly-eyed for Rosier!"

"How did you—"

"Blimey, Via, I heard rumors from my very unreliable sources, so I'd hoped they were wrong…"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Via! ROSIER? You could pick better trash out of a dust bin!"

Silvia pounced and the two cousins ended up wrestling on the floor for a few minutes. Ultimately, Silvia won the bout and Aurelia was forced to shamefully submit. They went their separate ways when the clock struck midnight.

When Lia walked through the portrait and into the common room, she was lifted off the ground, held underneath the waist, and the resulting squeak issued from her throat ended as she settled back on the ground. She turned around to meet Sirius' lips only inches from her own. Flashing him a smile, she quickly kissed his cheek and spun on her heels, heading to the girls' stairs.

Sirius followed close behind and once she reached the stairway, he grabbed her around the waist again and pulled her backwards, into him. "I don't want to sound concerned or anything, but," he said, than making a mockery of mothers everywhere, added, "where have you been?"

"Went for a stroll around the castle," she replied simply. Sirius made a face that displayed his disbelief. "Hey, you're not the only one whose got the well-developed skills to sneak out after dark."

He shook his head and let his hands slide from their position on her curves. "It's not that. Just…how _ever_ did you get past Woldrum?"

"Ha ha," she said. "You think you're so terribly witty. Crack on with your little jokes. I've only gotten detention once for being caught out past curfew. And how many times have you?"

"That's completely beside the point." Sirius nearly pushed her up the stairs, but made sure she didn't fall. "Off to bed with you."

"Coming to tuck me in, then?" she said, moving up the stairs ever-so-slightly.

Once their eyes were locked, Sirius moved to place his foot on the first step when he realized what he was about to do. "Why, you little—!"

Aurelia jumped up another stair and grinned. "Oops, I forgot. You can't come up here, can you?"

"When I find a way, you won't be safe anywhere, Lia!"

"Oh no!" she said, with faked shivers. "I'm so scared."

The grins stayed until Aurelia reached the top-most step.

"G'night," Sirius said, and Lia blew him a kiss, imitating the ever-popular girlish tactics she had often seen flaunted on the very location where she now stood.

It seemed so surreal, being as who she was staring down at was Sirius Black and the fact that he was staring up at her with just as much avidity. But far from feeling odd, the whole thing fell into place exactly where it should. It felt right. Which in turn made it feel very wrong.

- - - - -

"Silvia!"

The nasal voice followed her wherever she went. After she'd avoided him on several occasions, she honestly thought he would realize she didn't want to see him. Couldn't he get a clue? She had had a narrow miss in the library earlier that day. Now, he had been tipped to her whereabouts because of a greasy-haired git. Snape was going to get what was coming to him.

He was such a spoil sport sometimes. All she'd done was play a few _harmless_ pranks on him. He had blown it way out of proportion. Mostly they weren't even her fault—a result of truth or dare. Apparently Silvia was a favorite because she picked dare every time, and always followed through. That was what had also led to this situation. That stupid game with her stupid dorm mates.

She had been dared to snog the next boy she saw. Unfortunately, that boy happened to be a past boyfriend. She could have cursed her bad luck if she wasn't so concentrated on fleeing from him. She didn't want to waste a detention on someone as worthless as him. That is what led to her current predicament, dashing through the corridors in hopes of losing the Ravenclaw. At present, it was not working out for her.

Momentarily taking refuge behind a statue, she wiped a piece of newly violet hair behind her ear. She heard the approach of footsteps and stiffened, her body taking the same posture as the statue before her in hopes of concealment. It didn't quite work out in her favor.

Footsteps stopped and taking a peek at the floor she could see definite male shoes standing in front of the statue. Silvia bit her lip and tilted her head to the side for a moment to see who it was. Her head was brought back to its previous position quickly. She had seen a complexion darker than her pursuer had. That was a good sign.

"You look ridiculous," a deep voice admonished, amusement seeping through.

Silvia took the opportunity to inspect the person again. Tanned skin, dark hair, dark eyes, handsome features, wearing green. It was Evan. She sighed before whistling and walking around the statue.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Evan raised an eyebrow at her act of nonchalance. "What were you doing behind that statue?"

"Looking for my quill?" She tried a sheepish look, but he saw through it. She grinned. "Well, you know that _friendly_ game of truth or dare the girls got into the other night?"

"Oh." His eyes narrowed. "You mean the one where someone set my charms essay on fire?"

Silvia smiled brightly. "That's the one. See, being the outgoing person that I am I naturally had quite a few dares." She ignored his snort. "One of which was to snog the next boy I saw. Unfortunately…it was a Ravenclaw that I'd had a thing with before. And now…"

"He's clinging?"

"Exactly!"

It appeared that Silvia was going to say something else when she was cut off by the sound of footsteps.

"Silvia? I know you're hear somewhere! C'mon, we need to talk!"

"Damnit! RUN!" Silvia grabbed onto Evan's arm and dragged him down the corridor, searching the walls lining it as she went. Suddenly she spotted a door and hauled it open, pushing Evan in first before following. As the door closed, they were submerged in darkness. They were also in very close quarters. Apparently she had chosen a closet for a hiding spot.

She dropped her hand and fumbled in the darkness until she found her wand. "_Lumos_," she muttered, letting the light flood the tiny enclosure. Her fingers noticed the texture of her wand felt different than it normally did. Looking down, she realized why. It wasn't her wand. "What the hell? Whose is this?"

A hand plucked the wooden device from her fingers. "That would be mind."

"Oh. Well, sorry."

"It's f—"

Quickly Silvia covered his mouth with her hand, her other on the wand as she whispered, "_Nox_." Faintly, they could hear feet shuffling past them. It was a few moments later that she allowed her hands to drop to her sides, but she didn't move from her position.

"Sorry. I panicked…a little," she whispered as a way of apology.

"I never imagined you would run from a guy," said Evan, sounding amused. He was probably smirking, but due to the darkness it was not a surefire thing.

One of her hands was resting near his arm. She pinched him. "It's not running. It's purposeful avoidance. Do you know how long it took for me to get that guy to leave me alone the first time? I had to send a rather disparaging letter to his mother! Old fart even had the nerve to insult me."

Evan chuckled, which earned him another pinch. "What did she say? That you were ruining her perfect little angel with your flamboyant actions?"

"No, it had more to do with my hair."

"Your hair? Who would have seen that coming?" He said sarcastically, for which he received another pinch. "I've had just enough of _that!_" He grabbed her wrist and then searched in the dark until he found the other one.

"Hey!" Silvia cried out indignantly, trying to get her wrists free from his hold.

"Are you always so violent?"

She laughed. "You're just figuring out I'm a violent person? Thought you knew me better, Rosier."

He grinned, although she couldn't see it. "See, I thought that Silvia Colton temporarily trapped in a closet with a boy wouldn't react soviolently."

Silvia's eyes widened at the implication that for the most part was true. "Why, you—!" She growled the rest of the sentence before laughing slightly at a joke all her own. "Perhaps I just don't like you, Evan."

"I highly doubt that."

"Oh really? And why's that?"

"Simple case. That, limited in space this closet might be, there isn't really a _viable_ reason for you to be pressed against me so much." Evan smirked down at her.

If she had had the ability of her arms, her hands would have been on her hips. "And do you have a problem with that?"

"No, I'm rather enjoying it. "

"Good to know one of us is," she retorted distastefully. It didn't matter that she was lying through her teeth. She had thought it a stroke of luck that she had a reason to drag Evan into a closet. Despite her reputation, she liked to leave the illusion of chance meetings and how things progressed from there. So far, it had never failed her. Granted, Evan was a great deal smarter than most of the males she usually went after.

"Maybe I can improve things for you?" He looked down at her, and brought her arms up to wrap around his neck. He let his hands rest on hers while his head lowered. Their lips met and Silvia smiled, despite herself. She opened herself up for the kiss.

When they decided on finding some sort of oxygen, she was still grinning. "I think that improved things considerably," Evan muttered as he ran his hands across her shoulders.

"I'd have to agree," Silvia replied before putting pressure on her toes to connect their lips again. She took her time to explore the caverns of his mouth, letting him have the same privilege. Eventually her hands went down from around his neck to flatten across his chest. She took hold of the emerald tie he wore and loosened it sufficiently.

Evan removed his mouth from her and kissed his way to her neck and then up to her ear. At one spot she gave a moan and from this reaction, he knew he had found a spot. Grinning, he made his way back to her mouth. His hands made to pull at the bottom of her oxford, tugging it from her skirt.

They were too wrapped up in each other to even notice when the room flooded with light. Blinking, they turned to the source and saw the aged face of Woldrum. He seemed particularly displeased when he saw the occupants of the closet—green really gave it away. Notorious for causing trouble.

"Mind closing the door?" Evan asked, looking down pointedly at Silvia.

The caretaker made no motion of movement so the pair sighed in response. They rearranged their clothes and walked past the old man, out of their hiding place. He made to say something when Silvia held up her hand. "We know! Detention for indecent behavior…blah, blah, blah."

She started to walk away and turned when Evan didn't follow. "Hey, Rosier! I've still got your wand!" she held up the object in question. He grinned.

"I guess I'd better be going. Can't let that girl get away with stealing a piece of my property."

Once they had rounded the corner, they burst out laughing before running hand in hand to find another unoccupied room where they could continue their previous actions.

- - - - -

"Take a look at Perkins in that Muggle blouse," Sirius said, giving a low whistle, his eyes dancing. "And were you checking out Henderson in the Quidditch match today, Moony? I know Prongs was looking up her robes."

"She's got nice knickers, what can I say?" James replied with a mischievous smirk.

"I still don't think you should be _on the hunt_, Sirius." Remus' general attention was focused on his open Charms book. His eyes were skimming the pages while his words were directed at his friends, which gave him the unique quality of being able to read and speak at the same time on two completely different subjects. "You have a girlfriend…or have you forgotten?"

"Of course not," said Sirius, still gazing across the grounds at Emily's chest.

"I don't think Lia would like you looking at other girls," Remus stated.

"He can _look_ all he wants," Lia said brazenly, walking up to the group, causing Sirius' gaze to falter. He peered up into the bright sunlight where Aurelia stood and his mouth formed a grin. Lia stepped over James, who was sprawled out on the ground ripping edges of his homework, and took a seat in between Sirius' outstretched legs, laying back and leaning against his chest. She lifted her head and said, "As long as I'm the only one he's snogging."

Sirius coiled his arms around her belly and cradled her. He leaned his head forward and they kissed. "Just a couple others here and there," he said, once they had pulled apart. "Hope you don't mind."

"Funny," Lia said, dipping her head back to the skyline.

She realized how silent the other two had been since her arrival and couldn't bare the thought of them being uncomfortable around her just because she was dating their best friend.

"So, how are the rest of my boys?"

"Fine, thanks," said Remus, marking the page of his book and closing it gently.

"Same 'ol," James replied.

"You both look a bit, I dunno. Weirded out. Do you mind us…?"

Remus hesitated before saying, "No, of course not."

"Go ahead. Snog away," James replied, but his answer took even longer than Remus'.

Lia smiled. "Seems like you two are a little jealous. Would you feel better if I were kissing _you_?"

Remus and James laughed but Sirius pushed her head to the side so she could view his narrowed eyes. "Thought we just went over this. You snog _me_."

"And if you want that to continue, then let me do as I bloody well please," Lia said, grinning broadly. She turned her head to face James and Remus in a business-like fashion. "Now, which one of you would like to go first?"

They all chuckled and it was then that Aurelia noticed the little rat-boy was not among them.

"And where is dear Peter?"

"Had to stay back with Slughorn," Sirius said, smirking like he knew something she didn't, which was true.

"Mixed up the ingredients in the Bulbadox Powder," Remus explained.

"It was a glorious mess!" said James, recollection all over his face. "Green slime _everywhere_. It's supposed to turn from gray to blue, if you get it right, that is. And it should also harden, but Worm's got runny halfway through."

"He's still in the dungeons. Slughorn's giving him a few pointers about reading directions."

It wasn't long before Remus gathered his books into his bag and stood up, heading back to the common room to study for an Arithmancy exam. They bade him farewell and watched him walk back to the castle.

When conversation came to an abrupt halt, James resorted to tearing whole pieces of paper in half. Aurelia noticed initials sketched on a corner reading 'LE', and it made her snigger.

"You still fancy her, James?"

The messy-haired Seeker looked up, confused, and could only manage a, "Huh?"

"Think she's found out your deep, dark secret, mate," Sirius teased, setting his chin on top of Aurelia's head.

James had followed Lia's gaze to the ripped paper lying on the ground beside him. "Yeah, what of it?" he asked, a bit defensively.

"Just curious. Lily was just saying last night—"

"Did she mention me?"

"Keep your head on, Prongs," said Sirius, now lowering his head to kiss Lia's neck.

Aurelia smirked, both from James' reaction and because the kisses tickled. "In fact, she _did_. Don't worry, I put in a good word for you, not that you needed it. She told me she thinks your head has deflated a bit. And she likes it when you 'forget' to push the third years down the stairs."

James grinned. "Do girls talk about guys like that all the time or only on special occasions?"

"Depends," Lia said simply, acting as though she wouldn't elaborate. "I complain about Sirius all the time and Lily used to do the same with you. Now that she's dishing out compliments, I'd say you're in a better place than you were."

James stuffed his papers and books back into his bag and stood up. He looked at the two leaning against the tree. "I'll talk to you later. I've got practice soon. And Lia"—she looked up, eyebrows raised—"thanks for that."

"Anytime," she replied and as soon as James was out of earshot she said, "Alone at last."

Sirius tightened his grip around her belly playfully and asked, "So what sort of things do you complain about?"

"Just that you don't kiss long enough." Aurelia turned on her side so she could view him properly. Her eyes had begun to ache from looking up too much.

"Well then, let me save you the trouble," he said, leaning down, but their lips only brushed and he pulled away, peering down at her. "Take a couple deep breaths, love, because you won't get the chance for awhile."

Aurelia rolled her eyes and inhaled dramatically, then felt his mouth on top of hers. Soon, they were engaged in a breathless snogging session, quite literally.

- - - - -

Being pulled by the arm into the abandoned corridor, Aurelia really had no choice but to comply with his demands.

"Sirius, class is about to start!" she protested. He had decided spur-of-the-moment that they would ditch, without his girlfriend's consent.

"Don't worry. They'll still be there when we get back."

She smiled and allowed herself to be dragged to the broom closet down the hall. Sirius released her hand and slowly kissed the side of her mouth. They drew closer, teasing, tasting, and Sirius' hand slid over the handle to open the closet door when he bumped into something that called out an indignant "Ow!" Utterly surprised (for it was _their_ closet) both Aurelia and Sirius turned about to find an even more surprising sight.

"EMILY?"

"REMUS?"

Both prefects' faces flushed crimson.

"All_ right,_ Moony!" Sirius said in his most congratulatory-male voice. The embarrassed couple made to maneuver around, but Sirius prevented that. "No, no, no. You stay. We'll go."

While the two couples separated, Aurelia was making facial gestures to alleviate Emily's supposed self-consciousness. They were both grinning by the time Sirius shut the door again completely. Once down the hall, Sirius and Aurelia just looked at each other and grinned.

"Where to, love?"

Sirius placed his head out to check around a corner into a classroom and snatched up Lia over his shoulder. She almost screamed, but caught herself and broke into silent giggles. He brought her into the empty classroom and placed her up against the wall. Instead of acting as the subdued partner, as was her usual instinct, she grabbed his hair and pulled him down into her lips. They continued this vigorous foreplay for quite some time before Aurelia mentioned she thought she'd heard a noise.

They quietly got off each other and commenced to leaning nonchalantly up against the blackboard. When McGonagall walked past the room, she heard Aurelia's shoe screech against the floor. Sirius' eyes popped out at her in an irritated fashion and she grimaced.

"Mr. Black and Miss Colton," the professor said accusatorily. "I'm sure you have an excuse as to the reason for your absence from class."

"You see, Professor," said Sirius, "we got lost."

McGonagall almost let a snort escape her. "You've spent five years at this school and you inexplicably _got lost_, and so much so that you've missed half of a class period? I don't fully understand why, but somehow I just don't believe you. Return to your lessons." When the two students didn't move, she ushered them out the door with her hand gestures. "Now!"

Grinning the entire way down the hall, Sirius and Aurelia were followed by McGonagall until she made sure they were in their classroom and punished for being late. Considering the circumstances, both were not upset in the slightest.

- - - - -

"You know, things don't seem to be working out…"

Aurelia's head spun around from the sketch she was working on in her notebook. Her hand stilled over the parchment, the coal pencil clutched loosely in her hand. Her lower lip began to quiver. "Via—are you breaking up with me?"

The Slytherin stuck out her tongue, despite her age. Then her face hardened and her hands went to her hips. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes. I can't stand your cold feet at the end of the bed any longer."

"You said you didn't mind!" The Gryffindor pushed her notebook out of the way. She stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at her cousin. "You said that they were cute, like flobberworms!"

"I lied." Silvia waved it off, as if her cousin should know this was a risk with her person. "What can I say?"

"I'm dying inside." Lia brought her hands to her chest to reside over her heart, though her words lacked the drama they required for one to be taken seriously.

"Good. But don't you dare stain my carpet." She flicked her dyed hair while buffing one of her hand's nails against her chest.

"Jerk."

Silvia sidled up to her cousin. She put on a sickeningly sweet smile and cocked her head to one side. "You know you love me, Lia." She batted her eyelashes.

"Most of the time," she said, sitting back down and placing her notebook once again in her lap. "Now, when I see you hexing my boyfriend on the other hand…"

She rolled her eyes, scrunching her face in distain. "That again?" Aurelia sent her a particularly nasty look. "It's not my fault. He started it. Mine was purely retaliation."

"You sound like a two year old," Aurelia admonished.

Silvia stuck out her tongue again.

"Now you look it," her cousin continued. "C'mon, can't you just 'leave it at that' for once?"

Silvia came to sit down next to her cousin, her knees drawn up to her chest. Her head fell down to rest upon her knees. "Why don't you ask _him_ to stop hexing _me_?"

"Because…" the auburn-haired cousin shifted her eyes from Silvia back to her sketch. Ironically, it was a sketch of the topic of conversation. A rather rough sketch if one was to ask the creator, but a sketch nonetheless.

"Because, why?"

She could feel grey eyes similar to her own boring into her. She tried to ignore them and concentrate on getting the adorable smirk on the figure to have a hint of mischief within it. Eventually it was too difficult. She could never outwait the patience of her cousin. "You know why!"

"It's not like it should matter." Her voice seemed smaller, almost softer for some reason. She fiddled idly with the green tie adorning her neck.

"Merlin, Via, do you know what they'd think?" Aurelia was exasperated. They had had this conversation before, usually with a drop in topic because neither wanted to fight with the other. "What would your friends say? The Black sisters? Malfoy?"

"What do I care what they think?" Her face belied her anger and frustration. She did not give a damn what people thought about her so why did Aurelia? "I happen to believe that blood is thicker than water, Lia. Just because Bella and Cissa don't play well with Sirius doesn't mean everyone's the same way!"

"I…Via, I can't."

"No. You _won't_. There's a difference. You don't want to take a chance at losing your precious friends…even if the repercussion is losing a cousin." Silvia stood up in a fluid motion, her hands already clenched into tightly balled fists.

"Silvia—"

Her cousin did not allow her to continue her plea. "Admit it. They're more important to you now."

"It's not like that! It's just that I…well, I don't want…" Aurelia was clenching the pencil within her fist, while her notebook was clutched at her chest. It was acting as a security blanket for her at the moment.

Violet hair shook in the still room. A small noise of disgust filled the otherwise silent atmosphere. She held up her hand to stop any further attempts at reason. "Save it. I don't want to know. I won't keep you any longer. Run along to your friends, _Aurelia_." They both noticed the icy tone that had crept into her voice.

Silvia made to leave the room, though being as she was already on her feet it was not a hard task to complete. What stopped her was the sudden extra weight latched onto her otherwise mobile appendage. Aurelia was clutched her arm, having dropped the notebook to the floor.

"That's not it and you know it. You know me, Via." Aurelia's grey eyes were wide and pleading. She did not want her cousin and confidant to be angry with her. For her, making Silvia upset was even worse than upsetting Lily.

The Slytherin let out a chuckle, low and menacing. "I _thought_ I knew you. Turns out I was wrong."

Her hand went to remove the two hands grasping her forearm. She could feel the charcoal pencil digging partially into her skin. It was unintentional, she was sure. She lifted the hands from her and threw them back at their owner. Then she went towards the door once more.

"Silvia, please stop."

She did stop, briefly. "No. Not until I have a reason to. Good-bye, Aurelia." She turned her head back to look forwards once more and walked out the door, leaving her cousin alone.

"Shit. What did I do?" Aurelia held her head in her hands and was clutching at her hair in despair. She didn't know how to fix this.

- - - - -

Silvia walked down the corridor, hearing her heels click against the stone surface. How could Aurelia be like that? After all they had been through, she chose friends over family! It was beyond aggravating. Sure, the whole ordeal had been horribly exciting when they were younger. Sorted into different houses, yet still the best of friends. They would set up times and places to have a secret get-together and inform each other on anything worth mentioning. In the past few years they had been a little more open about what they did, always finding ways to flaunt their secret relationship underneath everyone's unsuspecting noses.

They were sixteen now and the glamour of the situation had faded for Silvia. She did not mind if anyone knew about their friendship. Why should a silly school rivalry get in the way of their bond? It should not have. Apparently, Aurelia disagreed on that front. She was more worried about what her housemates would think once they found out. Personally, Silvia could not care less what her own housemates thought.

"I should have just left it alone," she muttered to herself, thinking that it would have been better to just go on pretending than to vent on her cousin. She stepped over to a wall, letting her fist meet the hard surface. Her face followed gentler to lean her forehead against the cold surface. Maybe it could calm the fury inside of her. She closed her eyes.

"Colton, you look depressed. First year escape again?"

Black. Typical that it would be his voice that would cut through her revelry. Not to mention he was one of the deciding factors for her fight with Aurelia. Idly she wondered how quickly and quietly she could _dispose_ of him. Her cousin would be livid then of course and that might not have helped matters. That didn't lessen her strong desire to hex him.

"I'm not in the mood Black. Go find your girlfriend," she added as an afterthought.

"I'm on my way to find her actually, until this _happy_ little interlude." His sarcasm was practically projected at the girl who was still leaning against the wall.

"She's over there." Silvia's slim finger jerked in the direction that she had just come from. Maybe he would leave her alone then. "Or at least she was a few minutes ago."

Sirius growled. "What did you do to her?"

Her eyes rolled, but only the stone saw. She pushed herself off the wall to turn and face him. "Relax. We were just having words," she said, beginning to walk away from him, thinking the confrontation over. Actually looking at him had not helped her in the matters of wanting to hex him. It was a natural response of hers, to see either the ugly mug of Potter or Black and she went reaching for her wand.

"Words?" He looked confused and indignant at the same time.

"Yes, Black. It's how intelligent people communicate. Too bad you don't know about that, huh?" Silvia left him there, still with the confused and indignant look on his face, although it seemed indignant was beginning to weigh out over any other emotion he held. She pushed open the front doors to the castle, despite the hour, and walked out onto the trim lawns. Her destination was unknown to her, but something about the fresh breeze and scent on the air calmed her like nothing else could.

- - - - -

Sirius reached an agreement on his emotion, angry, but found his adversary long since gone. "Prat," he muttered, walking with his hands in his pockets to find an auburn-haired girl who was sure to put him in a better mood. He found the supposed location she had resided in void of her presence.

"If I had 'words' with my evil-addled cousin, where would I go to sort it out?"

His feet traveled down the hallways in uncertainty as to where he should go. He reached the main staircase that did not move and led to all of the other staircases and in effect everywhere else in the castle. "Astronomy tower?" he asked himself, looking at one of the steps. "No, too romantic. Common room?" His gaze fell upon the direction from which he had just come. "Well, obviously not. Owlry?" He looked again. "Too…smelly. Lake?" he questioned the air, eyes falling on the doors that Silvia had previously walked through. "Perfect!"

Sirius' hand wrapped around the metallic handle and pulled it open towards his body. He stepped outside into the crisp air. Only a few strides out onto the lawn when he felt something splash onto his nose. He wiped it off, dismissing it. Another few drops fell before they were too numerous to count. Then a loud crack of thunder shook the sky as a bolt of lightening illuminate the dark clouds above. "Brilliant," he muttered, annoyed already.

In perfect contrast, Aurelia freely allowed the rain to fall all over her face as she stood by the bank gazing up into the darkness. She welcomed it. It calmed her, making it possible for her to forget the problems she knew she would have to face eventually. She still held her notebook at her side, but the paper became damper with every drop. She didn't care so much, deciding it hadn't been that good a rendering anyway.

_I'll never capture that damn perfect grin_, she thought absently.

A chill crawled up her spin and she had an impulse to look behind her. As she stepped to turn, she walked into the lean form of Sirius. A gasp escaped her lips, but it quickly turned into a lopsided smile.

"Well, hello there," he said, grinning as he watched droplets roll down her cheeks and glide off her chin.

"Hey," Lia sighed, and she turned back around to face the lake.

Sirius, however, had not just come out to look at her. He slid the notebook from her loose grip and held it up, peering at the drawing. Apparently, he had come to look at himself.

"This me?"

"That's you."

After a scrutinizing once-over, he asked, "Do I really look all runny?"

Aurelia glanced at the notebook, which was close to soaked now, and saw the charcoal drifting from one end of the page to the other, obscuring the drawing so much so that it was barely recognizable any longer. She shrugged it off as she redirected her eyes at Sirius.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

She felt herself shiver a bit. The school-approved blouse she wore was not enough to keep out the cold on a night like this. Sirius saw her muscles quiver, even for that second, and he shed his robe and draped it over her shoulders. And to her utter surprise, he wrapped his arms around her chest to warm her.

"How chivalrous," said Aurelia, touching her nose playfully to his cheek. "Where is the Sirius I know and love?"

"I'm afraid he's occupying a couple dog catchers at the moment, but there's no need to worry, miss. We've got the situation under control. We also hope the imitation we've sent you is significantly less problematic than the original."

They uncharacteristically cuddled for awhile, looking at one another and staring out over the lake, until the clouds overlapped and the rain began to pour down in sheets. They started for the castle at a run and when they reached the steps, they slipped on the slick stone. Their attempts to suppress their laughter were foiled. Sirius pulled back the door, ushering his girlfriend inside. When they bounded into the entrance hall, they realized just how much noise they were making and the laughter came to an abrupt halt.

Sirius shook his head wildly like a wet dog to get the hair out of his eyes, and once they were exposed they fell upon Aurelia. He smirked and nodded his head slightly in her direction. She raised an eyebrow and looked down into the black robes to find that her blouse had obtained a fair amount of water on their journey.

She glanced up at Sirius to find quite an attractive sight. His hair was messy and dripping water onto his nearly-transparent, white shirt. The rain had made the fabric stick to his skin, as it had with her own, and she could see everything almost as clearly as if he hadn't had a shirt on to begin with. A smirk now formed on _her_ face.

Sirius began with, "We need to—"

"I'm all for it," Lia said, cutting across him.

She grabbed his hand tight, their fingers interlocked, and she led him up the stairs to get somewhere a little less 'out in the open.' Without the knowledge of having done so, Lia had dropped her notebook at the doors, neither taking notice of its absence nor caring of its plight.

- - - - -

It had been surprising to Silvia that the rain held a certifiable chill in it at that time of year. But really, it just acted as a distraction from the turmoil of her thoughts. When she had first set out there had only been the wind's kiss across her body in the night hours. But as she walked it had begun to rain. That, in and of itself, did not bother her much. She had always fancied rain.

The problem was she had no clue where she should try to relax. Her first thought had been the forest, but at night there would be more activity within it. Next she had wanted to visit the lake, but that only made her think of Aurelia, whom she was ardently trying to avoid thinking about. So she had let her feet carry her where they would.

She wound around the castle grounds, finding her way to the greenhouses. A small smile crossed her face. Her hand touched the glassy surface, tracing it as she neared the doorway. Clasping the handle, she crossed the threshold, letting the rain fall upon the shined surface around her instead of on her. She wandered, examining the plants that surrounded her. It was comforting.

Closer inspection of a clump of wormwood found Silvia a small grass snake. "You don't belong in here," she whispered softly with a sweet, underlying tone. She had always been fond of snakes. She lifted the reptile into her hands, letting it curl around her arms.

With her blouse sleeves already rolled to her elbows, she could feel the roughness of the alternating tan and black scales across her flesh. Her fingers played under the neck of the snake. Being that it was non-venomous, she had nothing to fear from it. Reluctantly, she allowed the snake to resume its course. Silvia could not help but let a sigh escape her.

"Somehow, I never thought Herbology was your subject."

Turning quickly at the sound of the voice, Silvia came upon the sight of one of her favorite housemates. She relaxed her body from its previously tense position. "I didn't think it was yours either."

Evan made a face. "It isn't. I was fixing an assignment when it started to rain."

"Would you like to head back together?" She put on a charming smile that lacked some of its usual sparkle. She hoped he would not notice.

He stripped off his dragon-hide gloves and put them on the table beside him. Circling around the table, he came to stand beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders, letting her cold form take some comfort in his warmth. "You should be wearing a coat."

Looking up at him, Silvia let out a chuckle. He didn't have one either. "So should you."

"I guess we'll just have to suffer together." Evan didn't seem particularly broken up about the arrangement. They had begun to walk towards the entrance to the greenhouse, leaning upon each other more than necessary.

"Or…we could wait out the storm." She grinned wickedly whilst taking hold of his shirt and pushing him back towards the exposed section of wall nearest them. She took little time in capturing his lips with her own. Soon enough they had switched positions so that her back was now against the wall.

At some point during their impromptu snogging session they remembered their surroundings. "Via, perhaps snogging in the greenhouse isn't the best idea."

"Afraid of plants, love?"

"Not all, but knowing how we are, we'd end up crashing into the growing mandrakes with consequences not favorable to either of us," he pointed out, as much as it pained him too.

"Bugger, I forgot about those. I suppose we'll have to brave the weather after all." Silvia gazed out the translucent walls and then back at the male specimen before her. Taking his hand, she smirked. "Come on, Rosier, let's go take a shower."

She pulled the two of them out into the rain. Leading the way, she charged across the grounds. Peering over her shoulder, she saw the amused look on his face. It was then that her feet slipped from underneath her. Her grip on his arm caused him to fall as well. A few moments later the two burst out laughing as they realized they were in a puddle of mud.

Once they could stand again, albeit shakily, Silvia sidled up to Evan. She wrapped her hands lazily around his neck and put light pressure on her toes to extend herself high enough to reach his lips. After a sufficient amount of time, she pulled away, an impish grin on her face. "Catch me if you can," she said, running away and laughing into the night air.

Evan could not help but grin as he went after her. He caught up near the castle steps, catching her around the waist. She shrieked in delight. Easily, he lifted her into his arms. He carried her the rest of the way up the stairs. He had to relinquish his hold on her to open the door. She did not complain much.

Inside, the couple surveyed each other, soaked clean through with mud splattered all over their persons. They both grinned, having almost identical thoughts. "My, my, Miss Colton. We can't let you go around in those soaked clothes. We should get you out of them right away."

"I would have to agree, Mister Rosier. We wouldn't want you to get any mud on the carpets." Silvia grinned while taking his hand again. They quickly made their way to some place more private.

- - - - -

Woldrum was used to many things in his line of work. Mischievous children were a given, random mishaps were seemingly not ambiguous. He had seen stairs covered with icicles, rodents filling the Great Hall, and even a very angry squid after the lake was filled with pinkish bubbles.

He had never seen this.

Well, he had seen this before, but not _this_. There were mud and water tracks traced all throughout the castle. An ordinary predicament to be sure, even if they were produced when all students were required to be within the confinement of their House dormitories. The real curiosity was that they branched to both the Slytherin and Gryffindor houses. There could be no possible way a Gryffindor and Slytherin would even consort with each other.

"It's just not right," he growled bitterly.

Much to his pleasure, he had found a notebook along the way. He hoped desperately to catch the careless students with the evidence at the scene of the crime. The problem was that it was so waterlogged that he could not tell what it had been used for or to whom it belonged. He was going to have to talk to the headmaster _again_ about these students.

- - - - -

"Lia, you going to the Quidditch match tomorrow?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she whispered out of the corner of her mouth without turning to look at him. It was a well-practiced method she had used regularly throughout the year. At least she wouldn't get in trouble and Sirius could take all the blame. What were boyfriends for?

"You skip them sometimes to go off and…come to think of it, I dunno what you do. Something evil and conniving, no doubt." She rolled her eyes. He turned around in his seat and asked, "Peter? You going to the game?"

"Mr. Black?" addressed Doundry from the front of the room. "Do you have something to share?"

"No, Professor. Just had an itch."

"Than you are too busy to give us a demonstration of the new spell we've just been discussing?"

"Of course, Professor. It'd be a pleasure."

How on earth Sirius would pull it off, Aurelia hadn't the slightest inkling. She knew he would though, and she was anxious to see his method unfold. She wouldn't have thought he'd been listening all class period, but one never knew with him.

Sirius took his time walking to the front of the classroom, accidentally dropping his wand in front of James' desk so he could whisper the spell. Doundry asked for a second volunteer to pose as Mr. Black's opponent. It just so happened that a Slytherin was willing. Doundry called him Avery. Aurelia had seen him hanging around in Silvia's group, so she knew that the demonstration was about to get even more interesting.

Avery slid into a dueling position as Sirius stepped in front of the professor's desk. Mr. Black was to initiate, Mr. Avery was to defend. Simply said, not so simply done.

Sirius wound his wand arm up as if to pitch in a Muggle sport and once the wand was pointed at its target, Avery's feet were knocked out from under him as if he had just tripped . He fell face-first onto the floor, groaning into the ground. Sirius grinned smugly and offered the boy a hand. The Slytherin shoved it away ungratefully, pushing himself up. They got back into positions and the scene replayed almost exactly. The second time Avery got up, his eyes were only slits.

Aurelia couldn't make out any of what Avery had said, being in the farthest row from the front, but she knew it wasn't friendly chit-chat when Sirius' fist collided with the boy's face. It was better than watching Quidditch. It made Lia's heart pound.

After the professor had separated the two, she heard her name from the front of the room.

"That little spat aside, what did you think of Mr. Black's demonstration? Accurate?"

"Merciful Merlin, I am _so_ turned on right now."

"Lia!" whispered Lily fiercely from the seat next to her.

"What was that, Miss Colton?" Doundry asked pointedly.

"I said, 'As well as is allowed,' Professor."

"Ah. Good."

Class continued, though Sirius was asked to visit the headmaster. He gathered his things from his desk, nothing smug about his expression. Aurelia grabbed the hand that was resting on the back of his chair while he retrieved his rucksack.

"What did he say to you?"

Sirius' jaw came forward a bit before he shook his head and walked down the aisle.

The hallway was bright, the sunlight shining through the windows falling across the stone floor. He clenched his fists hard enough so that his short nails dug into his palms to create red indentations.

"You know what's sad, Black?" Avery had taunted, loud enough for his ears alone. "That when you're family disowns you, you resort to prats and a trollop to keep you company."

He deserved every bit of what he got. He deserved more, in fact. If there hadn't been a teacher in the room, Avery would have gave Madam Pomfrey a good reason to resign. Of course, he didn't tell any of this to Dumbledore once he was being questioned on the situation. After awhile, the headmaster gave up and issued a punishment. Sirius reached the door only to be called back again and inquired about the notebook Dumbledore held up.

"Sorry, Professor. I have no idea who that belongs to."

* * *

**A/N:** Lo siento por la espera, este capítulo tomó mucho tiempo para redactar. ¡Damos las gracias para entender!  
Can you tell I'm studying for Spanish right now?  
By the way, please review! We live for reviews. 

**Disclaimer:** We don't own, you don't care :)


	15. Like Father, Like Son

**Authors Note:** We would like to give a HUGE thanks and lots of cookies to janetteorjessi, Lanen1, Queen Jane Approximately, Chucky1982, Melanie Potter, Wizardfreak01 and especially GrednForge101 (aka Mysti). Your reviews have been both very helpful and encouraging. Thank you all so much, we really appreciate it!

* * *

_Present_

**CHAPTER XV**

_Like Father, Like Son _

The girls Sirius had taken on his bike, which no doubt had been countless, had become either petrified of the ingenious magical object or just plain sick. The first ride was always the hardest to cope with. This was due mainly to his boyish spirit which gave him the impression that his date would enjoy a risky ride where most men would never dare to do a three-sixty in midair while carrying a passenger who had not been forewarned of the act.

But Sirius wasn't _most men_ and Aurelia wasn't _one of those girls_. The moment she stepped off the enchanted motorcycle, she lifted off her helmet and yelled, "Let's go again!" Sirius, being the energetic bloke that he was, kindly obliged. The second time they got off the bike, they took off _each other's_ helmets and jackets and went at it. Sirius' bike became a symbol and each time they 'went for a ride', everyone knew that both ways of interpreting the statement were true.

After one particularly artistic motorcycle trip, Sirius was too tired to give Lia anything other than a soft kiss. At this, she was both stricken and deprived, but decided to put her boyfriend's needs before her own.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly from the fireplace as she began to stack the rack inside with wood.

"Huh? Oh—nothing," he said, his mind elsewhere.

When she had finished placing the wood in the fireplace, she pointed her wand at the nearest piece and it ignited. "Please don't hand me rejection, Sirius, I could really use some sharing time." She walked over to the couch he was sitting on and plopped down beside him, resting her head against the back and sighing loudly. "My head hurts."

Sirius ran his fingers through her hair and gently massaged her temples. Aurelia moaned as she relaxed her tensed muscles and fell softly to one side. Then she sat up and grabbed the offending hands.

"Stop it," she said sternly. "I'm supposed to be caring for you and you're not telling me what's wrong."

"Nothing. Honestly." Aurelia shot an unsatisfied look his way. "It's just—this is hard for me to tell you, but I thought I might not have to at all…" Sirius looked at her and their eyes locked. "James and Lily need to go into hiding."

"What?" asked Lia, shocked and confused. "What do you mean?"

"A prophecy was made about how if a certain couple's baby was born in the month of July than You-Know-Who would 'mark him his equal'. It said _'The one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have defied him thrice, born as the seventh month dies. He will have power the Dark Lord doesn't know...neither can live while the other survives_.' Or something similar. Dumbledore says it could only be talking about two families. Frank and Alice Longbottom or…"

Aurelia closed her eyes in thought. Opening them, she played with a strand of Sirius' hair. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I thought you had enough on your mind," he said, running his fingers across her cheek. "And besides, it's probably already stuffed up here"—he braced his hand on the back of her head softly—"already." He kissed her forehead and they leaned against each other for a moment, thinking distantly.

Aurelia glanced at the clock on the wall above the fireplace mantel. "_'As the seventh month dies_'," she whispered. She felt Sirius' head turn towards her. "Ten o'clock. It's the 31st, isn't it?" She received a slow nod in response. "Then we have nothing to worry about. What are the chances of Lily having her baby within the next two hours?"

"Slim," replied Sirius slowly, his expression lightening a little. "Yeah. We shouldn't really be troubling over this, anyway. What are the odds?"

"Ten to one, at best," answered Aurelia in a knowledgeable tone.

"It's barely a threat."

"Nothing worth worrying over."

"We won't think about it."

"Think about what?"

"Wanna shag?"

"Yes," she sighed.

They left a trail of clothes, shedding them off as they made their way towards Sirius' bedroom. Aurelia was shoved onto the mattress after all the sheets had been stripped of their normal hold to the bed and Sirius was on top of her within seconds, kissing her neck and caressing her sides. Lia was weak, feeling the need to hold on to something before she let herself melt into the mattress. Her back arched, moving into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned her head back. He was her support. He kept her from falling, from sinking.

The moments stretched out endlessly until they finally released their tight hold on each other. Sirius lay back on the bed, his body still rubbing up against hers. One hand braced her head while he nibbled her ear and breathed softly into its shell and the other slid gently across her navel, making the lower portion of her body tingle. They released each other and their looks were enough to answer the unspoken question.

But as soon as Sirius shifted on the mattress, a loud hoot sounded from the window and they both turned to see an owl. Sirius rolled out of bed, hauled on the pair of boxers that had been lying on the floor and went to the window to collect his letter. As he sat down on the edge of the bed to unseal the letter, Aurelia crawled across the mattress and began to slip off the only remaining article of clothing Sirius had on. She jumped a little when he stood up and yelled, "Damn it all! She's gone off and ruined everything!"

"What?" Aurelia asked, startled by his tone.

"Lily's having the baby!"

"You're joking, right?"

"No," he said dismally. "We have to go. James is in a right state."

Lia offered a nervous laugh. "_James_ is in a right state? What about Lily?"

They dressed themselves silently, following the clothes trail they had left, and both ended up back in the living room where they collected their jackets and headed out the door again.

- - - - -

"What do you mean Severus is the source?"

Casually glancing over the woman sitting across from her, Bellatrix Lestrange wondered if she would end up like this if anything ever happened to her husband. Silvia's usually vibrant navy hair had faded to take on more of its natural ebony. Her face was sunken, whether from depression or from a lack of daily nutrients. Her grey eyes had lost their spark for life and now just seemed cold. Her whole body was thinning, making it apparent she had skipped a good number of meals. It had been four months since Evan Rosier had been murdered and since then Silvia had been dying in little pieces until she was a resemblance of their leader. She was, in effect, emotionless and inhuman.

"I mean exactly what I said," Bella replied, scowling lightly at her friend. She had to be careful to toy with her emotions, even if she was no longer careful of anyone else's. "Severus is the source."

"Why is that miserable toerag in charge of something this important?" Silvia asked, vehement at the idea that the greasy-haired miscreant was going to be part of her revenge. In all honestly, it wasn't really about her revenge; it was about Voldemort's plans, and they involved the Order being infiltrated, which was where Severus came in.

Bellatrix laughed, shaking out portions of her long black hair from the robes she wore. "Via, that's exactly _why_ it has to be Severus. He's just the miserable toerag we needed to convince them. I mean, think of it: who else would be horrid enough to consider switching sides? They'd have to be a pathetic, spineless git to do it. Severus fits the bill through and through without even trying."

"Not to mention," Silvia supplied, "the fact the Snape heard the prophecy."

"Stupid arse." Bella was still sour over the fact that for a while that move had made Severus a bit of a favorite with Voldemort. It hadn't lasted long of course, but it was enough for jealousy to seep through the cracks of duty that molded the Death Eaters—especially since it was only a coincidence that he had heard anything at all.

"A little bitter are we, love?" A small smile crossed Silvia's face, though it held no real mirth.

She pushed herself off the couch and sashayed towards her friend. Lazily, she ran a hand across Bellatrix's shoulders with her smile corrupted into a smirk. "I can always kill him for you," she whispered.

"Like that would solve anything," she replied, pouting. "Then I would have to explain why you killed Severus over a little grudge."

"Aw, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't take the blame? It's not like anything worse can happen to me." Silvia said it all with a grin, but it seriously lacked any show of cheerfulness.

Instantly, Bellatrix seemed sober. "Silvia. We need to talk."

Her grey eyes rolled. She walked around the couch in order to sit next to her friend, letting her body slump against the green material. "Must we go into this again?"

"Yes, we bloody well must! Silvia, it's only been four months and you spent a total of a week to overcome everything. It isn't healthy. It isn't natural."

Silvia let out a frustrated sigh. "Bella, nothing about my life has been natural. Just drop it. I'm fine. A little peckish, but fine."

"Oh, for the love of Crucio! You aren't peckish, you are positively peaky! I can't believe you don't see what's happening to you. Honestly, will you just admit to yourself that Evan's death is affecting you?" Bellatrix practically shouted at her and at close range that was something to behold indeed.

"You know, I expected lots of this from Cissa, but not from you. I guess I underestimated you a little. Why don't you just take a page out of everyone else's book, and leave me alone," Silvia growled, her eyes glinting.

"Everyone is leaving you alone because they're too afraid you'll break and kill them!" Now she was shouting. Perhaps it was better that no one else was present to hear them.

"That's ridiculous." She pushed her ebony and navy locks away from her neck to allow a small breeze to cool her heated skin. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm getting my payment through the valuable work that Severus is doing. When I start to kill people, you'll know."

"Lashing out at the Order, though admirable, is not the right way to grieve." Bella's hands slowly went to rest on her shoulders. "Have you even cried at all?"

Silvia stood up abruptly, letting her friend's hands fall onto the couch. "How_ dare_ you even say that! Of course I've cried! I couldn't get out of bed for a week! I lost the man I loved because of the Order, so I would say that my pursuit of them is justifiable. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm finding present company somewhat upsetting."

She left in a swirl of navy hair and black robes, leaving behind one of her closest friends with a heavy heart. Bella could not tell Silvia that most of the Death Eaters had noticed the change in her, even Voldemort, though he relished it for the cause. Worse, most were not aware of exactly how much the loss of Evan had affected Silvia. To them, he was just another one of her flings, the longest one she had ever withheld.

- - - - -

Sirius and Aurelia finally made it through the red-brick wall of Purge and Dowse, Ltd. a whole fifteen minutes after they received the letter from James. They could only apparate to a certain corner of the city where they were positive no one would notice the loud popping sounds made. They ran the rest of the way, not caring what the Muggles thought as they passed by. Ignoring the welcome witch in the reception area, they rushed to the fifth floor to find James, Remus and Peter waiting anxiously in the tearoom. Lia whacked her boyfriend in the arm for making them later than Peter, at which the offended just squinted.

"So what have we missed?" Sirius asked, giving James a hard thump on the back as they hugged.

"Nothing important. Lily screaming, Healers ushering me out of the room."

"Apparently he was being too disruptive," Remus explained, adding sarcasm to his voice as he said, "Can you imagine?"

Lia spotted Peter trying to signal Sirius about…his head? James must have spotted it as well, but instead of taking a minute to interpret exactly what the signal represented, he nudged Sirius and cleared his throat.

"Your hair, Padfoot…"

Sirius' hand instinctively went to the top of his head. "What about it?"

A glance at Lia and a grin produced, "You two go for another ride?"

Aurelia immediately blushed crimson, but Sirius ignored the comment and continued his attempt to pat down the mess on his scalp.

"Look. It's just the way you like it, Prongs."

"Both of you girls in the sack, just one of you's having a baby—"

"And one of you is going to make one."

She glared at Remus and Peter, but the blush won out and she was mortified all the more. She quickly asked where Lily's room was and even with James' protests, she decided to search it out. She told him she would not be a pest to the Healers like _some people_ couldn't help being and went off down the hallway. Stopping a young witch wearing lime green robes, Aurelia asked where she might find Lily Potter's room.

"Family, miss?" she asked sternly.

"Sister," Lia replied, smiling in an innocent way.

She was led to a door a ways down the hall and thanked the woman. The door was closed, and for good reason. In addition to the occasional scream, Lily was producing a variety of other noises that may have led a passerby to believe she had recently heard the song of a Fwooper. Lia opened the door as little as possible but enough so that she could slip through without knocking anything over.

"It's Petunia, love!" said Aurelia, reaching the side of her friend's bed once she realized there was only one Healer in the room.

Lily's eyes popped open, only to sink as she realized who it really was. "Petunia…" she played along. "So glad you could—ahh!" She closed her eyes hard and her teeth grit. Lia grabbed her hand and let her squeeze it tightly instead of grasping the thick metal bars on the bed. Not being able to bend them properly probably only made her angry. At least a hand was good and breakable.

It was an hour into her intense contractions that the Healers started pouring into the room and Lia was pushed from one side of the room to the other. She really wasn't capable of doing anything but pitying her poor pregnant friend. The screaming started to become consistent and after one last hand squeeze Aurelia was ushered out by the same witch who had showed her to the room. She was insulted, because not once had she gotten in the way of those sodding Healers.

"This part is for husbands only, miss."

She scoffed. "Like James will want—"

"Pardon me, madam," said James smoothly as he walked past her and opened the door in a cocky manner.

"Git," she muttered.

It was close to seven minutes after Aurelia had rejoined Sirius, Remus and Peter in the tearoom that James re-appeared as well. They all exchanged coin as he slouched down in a chair opposite Remus.

"I don't get it. I just picked up the metal thing; it wasn't like I dropped it!"

They waited and waited…and waited. Every time someone walked by their seats they glanced up, and then straight back down again. They tried to think of ways to entertain themselves. There were silly newspapers with puzzles in them, but every one took them only thirty-seconds to complete. After the ninth puzzle, they realized they were looking through a children's book. They played word games and conjured a few random objects, which both Sirius and James had been scolded for by a stern-looking old bat. Aurelia had to hand over a few coin to Peter after that scene unfolded.

Finally, a calm but had-been flustered-looking Healer came out from the hallway and they all stood up. She rushed towards them and asked for the father, but when James took a step forward, her eyes bugged and she asked for the sister. Aurelia grinned at James' bewildered expression.

"Pardon me, monsieur," Lia said smugly, brushing past him and following the nurse's quick steps. She heard Sirius say, "It's almost like we're related, Jamsie," as she was led away from the waiting room.

Aurelia stepped into a different, cleaner room with a Healer overseeing a few trainees who were hovered over a small, kicking baby. Pulling her gaze to the right she saw Lily, passed out on her bed. She looked awful; her hair was all tangled into knots, there were dark circles under her eyes and beads of sweat were still dripped down her face. She almost looked—

"She's just resting, the poor dear," said the Healer behind her. "That baby put up a real fight coming out. He's a lively one."

"Just like his daddy," Aurelia said, admiring the little baby from afar. It had finally caught up with her, the realization that her best friend had just given birth to a miniature person. Her best friend and her husband were parents. Her best friend had just been pregnant for nine months and she really hadn't thought of it that way. She hadn't taken the time to step back and look at Lily as a pregnant woman. It was just…Lily with a pillow under her shirt, or Lily who had gained a couple pounds. It was astounding to her that there was actually a little person inside her best friend this entire nine months, breathing, kicking, _living_.

"The Healers will be finished in just a moment. Then you'll be able to see him."

Aurelia drifted to Lily's bedside and placed a hand on her forehead, wiping away some of the tangled mop of red hair. She conjured a towel since she didn't want to disturb any of the Healers. Dipping it in a glass of water on the bedside table, she dabbed it on Lily's forehead and cheeks to cool her off. She continued to comb out her friend's hair with her fingers until the baby was brought over to her.

Without asking permission, the Healer used a Scouring Charm on the visitor before placing Harry James Potter in her arms. Aurelia's eyes filled with tears as she rocked the sleeping baby back and forth. She hummed him an Irish lullaby that her mother had sung to her when she was a little girl. She held her arms into her chest so Harry's face brushed softly against her own. She had several minutes with him all to herself and when everyone else was allowed in, she felt greedy of the infant. James rushed to Lily's side, but by this time both Lia and some kindly Healer trainees had cleaned her up, so she didn't even look a quarter of what she had looked like before. He kissed her cheek and held her limp hand. As Aurelia was showing the three other men their sort-of nephew, James bounded over to her and held out his hands.

"If you drop him," she whispered over Harry's head, "I will hex you to Timbuktu."

James put on an indignant expression, than held his arms out the way he was supposed to. Lia lifted him up and placed the baby into his father's arms. Smiling brightly, he gently rocked him.

"He left Lily exhausted," Lia said quietly, switching her attention to the sleeping woman in the hospital bed.

"Like father, like son, eh, James?" Sirius whispered, nudging his friend softly in the shoulder.

It didn't seem like James had heard the comment. He was too busy studying the little human being he had helped create. It was hard to tell the features he possessed, because he was only a smooth-skinned little baby, but his hair was almost as dark as James'. Being as most newborns have very light hair, if any at all, it was uncanny. He could tell the boy was his. Not that he had questioned it before, but this confirmed it. James was a father and the fact of it was beginning to sink in for all of them.

Aurelia smiled and tears began to form in the sides of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Sirius' chest and he placed his hands on the small of her back comfortingly.

"My little Jamsie is all grown up," she said, peeking out of Sirius' t-shirt.

Sirius grinned at James' expression and apparently so did Remus and Peter, for his glare was transferred to each in turn, but surprisingly it never finished its course to Aurelia. Instead, she received a smile.

"Yeah," he said, looking down at his son. "I suppose I am."

- - - - -

"Ah! He's waking up!" Peter said excitedly as he gazed into the cradle.

Lily had been awake for a few hours but baby Harry was not anxious to see the world for the first time. They had been keeping watch over him in case he decided to do just that. Peter was quickly pushed aside by Sirius, who was pushed aside by James. Remus and Lia stood back to catch the amusing spectacle.

"You all are bloody brilliant. He should see his mother first!"

Lily stared at Aurelia and, after the several moments it took her to register the two sentences, smiled.

"Thank you, Lia."

James brought Harry towards the hospital bed and leaned him against his mother's arm. Aurelia could see the brightness in their faces as Harry opened his eyes to find his parents staring down at him. A small smile formed on his face and then his arm came out of his blanket. It swung wildly for a minute, almost knocking James in the head a few times. When the arm settled down, another smile came across his face and a few bubbles began gurgling on the side of his mouth.

Lily eyed James with a smile and then looked back down at her little boy, saying, "You are definitely your father's son."

- - - - -

If she was told weeks before she would be doing this, she would have called the man an absolute wanker. This action was simply not something that she would do. She had actually laughed on numerous occasions when she observed someone else partaking in the exact same activity.

Silvia Colton was stalking someone.

Of course if one were to ask her, it was just keeping tabs or researching their tendencies and behavior. Somewhere she knew she shouldn't even be trying, but she was past caring. Her world only consisted of a few choice people now and it still left her feeling empty inside.

At one point, she had considered tracing all the grease-lined steps that Severus made, only she correctly assumed she would be far less determined in that action than another. So instead she switched to watching her cousin and by association, the Order of the Phoenix.

She could honestly say they had little to no excitement in their life. From what she could tell it was just drab meetings and boring talks with some mindless chit-chat thrown in. She reclined against the wall in tattered and worn robes, at least in appearance, with a wide brimmed hat secured over her hair, successfully hiding her facial features. She couldn't quite remember when, but she had dyed it back to a neutral black color.

Body posture gave the illusion of a sleeping figure, and the occasional snores she produced helped that theory along. The best part was that it allowed her query to be lulled into a sense of security when she was simply listening in just feet away.

"C'mon, we don't want to be late. James is trying to get Harry to talk and it should be hilarious."

Although she could not see him, she easily recognized his masculine voice. It was that stupid prat her cousin always seemed to cling to, despite efforts made to separate the two.

Aurelia's voice was hesitant and falsely cheery. "All right, we'd best be going then. No more of this dawdling."

Apparently Black had sensed the hesitation. "Lia, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing…really."

"You wouldn't sulk over nothing."

"I'm not sulking." She was probably pouting at this point in time. Her cousin seemed to get defensive when she believed herself to be acting perfectly fine. Sometimes though, that girl simply wore her heart on her sleeve.

She imagined he rolled his eyes. "Fine, brooding. Now what is it?" His voice was laced with exasperation, merely wanting to return to their plans than waste time in this manner.

"It's just…well this is going to sound silly, but I haven't heard from Via in weeks." Her voice was soft, like she was ashamed of the fact, or she knew the man's dislike of the subject.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to talk to you."

"I'm serious, love! She's never neglected to return my owls. What if something happened to her?" Was that a quaver? Maybe Aurelia cared more for her than Silvia cared to realize, however unlikely that seemed to be.

Black sighed bleakly as if they had had the present conversation before. "Then there would be one less of them in the world. Maybe she's happily with Rosier now."

"Don't say that, Sirius. Be respectful of the dead."

"Dead is dead. Nothing is going to change that. I don't expect they mourn those they've killed. So why should we?" His voice was stern, something that rarely, if ever, happened when talking to the woman before him.

"You know what? Perhaps you'd best go on ahead without me; I need to think some things over." Her voice held notes that were cold and hard.

"Fine. I'll meet you at James'."

Angry footsteps left the back road quiet in its inactivity. Chancing a glance, Silvia saw her cousin facing the opposing walls with her fists clenched. She smiled grimly as she stood up, throwing the hat to the ground before simply walking off without so much as a sound. Her robes changed back to their fine quality and her raven hair fell down her back.

Aurelia turned around to find a hat where she could have sworn a person had been. She stared at it an entire minute before following in the same direction that Sirius had gone.

- - - - -

Feelings of bitterness melted into her as she opened the door to the barking laughter of Sirius with a newborn wrapped in his arms. Her mouth curved into a delighted smile as she slid onto the arm of the chair in which he sat. Without her knowledge, her hand slid up his back and came to rest upon the opposite side of his neck. Her fingers playfully twisted a lock of his hair while she watched Harry's arms swing wildly to and fro. She did not realize Sirius was looking at her, studying her, until James waltzed into the room.

"Dada!" he said encouragingly in a childish voice as he stepped closer. "Say 'Dada!'"

"All right, but only because you're so damn cute," Aurelia teased, giving James a peck on the cheek while he scowled softly. "How's Lily?"

"Better than expected. She begged me to let her help with dinner, but I wouldn't let her near the knives while she's got all those raging hormones."

"Good idea, Prongs, taking those precautions," Sirius praised, letting Harry snatch one of his fingers to suck on. "You're beginning to sound like a daddy already."

"Please tell me you washed your hands!"

"Should I tell Lily or should you?" Sirius whispered, gazing up at Aurelia and smirking. James flicked a finger at his friend's forehead. "'Course I did!" Sirius yelped.

James picked Harry out of his best friend's arms and went up the stairs, telling them to have a seat in the dinning room over his shoulder. Sirius slid a hand around Lia's waist slowly and then pulled her down into the chair so that she was spread across his lap. She smiled after the initial shock of being controlled as she was. Realizing in less than a moment that the tickling sensation she had been distracted by had been his doing as well, the shock wore off. Smiling, her hands wrapped around his neck and she leaned in. She waited until Sirius closed his eyes before she placed her fingers around her wand.

She felt electricity run through her body as Sirius suddenly released her. Lia looked down at his shaken expression and smirked at the defensive charm's effectiveness.

"Only on my time, dear heart," she said, running a fingernail along his jaw line. It was clear he wanted to try to take her again, but he saw the hand concealed in her jacket and knew what it was holding on to.

"Are we interrupting something?" asked Lily pointedly as she was escorted down the stairs by her husband. To the eye, she looked significantly better than the last time Aurelia had seen her and she was comforted by the fact that James was helping her physically as well as emotionally.

"Thought you would feed the baby first," Sirius said, his hand almost near enough to tickle his girlfriend's underarm. Aurelia quickly stood up, ignoring the second invitation, and stepped to the stairs where she hugged Lily.

"He was more tired than hungry, I guess," said the new mother with a small smile.

They all shifted into the dining room and watched James and the amusing display he put on at serving the food. Handling the liquor was easy for him, but the food part was hysterical. He dropped a spoonful of carrots on the nice linen tablecloth and splattered potatoes everywhere when attempting to serve his wife a sizable amount. She assured him that she was perfectly capable of serving herself, but he would have none of it. Aurelia had to stifle laughter when the new father had spilled both the gravy and the honey simultaneously while Sirius snatched the bottle and gravy bowl from him and commanded him to sit.

"With hands like that, I wonder why Lily ever lets you hold Harry," he muttered. Lia jabbed him in the thigh with her fork, causing him to wince and glare at her.

The rest of dinner went on nicely when James was relieved of the duties of the host. Aurelia brought in the rest of the dishes and Sirius took up the liquor. Lia was proud he was able to share with everyone and when this statement was voiced, she was poked in the soft spot below her left ribcage and inwardly gasped at the pain. It was her turn to glare.

"Are you two all right?" Lily asked, giving them a quizzical look.

"We're fine," they replied in unison, looking at each other. Then they smiled.

"I, uh, we have something we'd like to ask you both," said James, his brows raised into the mess of hair on his head. Sirius poured Aurelia another glass of wine instinctively or otherwise, but she had the feeling he was trying to get her drunk since she had already downed three.

"All right," he said, not taking his eyes off of the couple across from him. Aurelia almost began to squirm under their gazes until James and Lily clasped hands.

"Sirius, Aurelia…" Lily said, smiling. "We would be honored if you would be Harry's godparents."

The grip Lia had on the wine glass was slack and Sirius reached out to grasp the glass by the handle in the second instant of it falling. Not noticing the scene her own actions had produced, both of Aurelia's hands came up to cover her mouth. She moved out of her chair and rushed around to the other side of the table to envelope Lily in a fierce and friendly hug. Both women began to cry on each other's shoulders.

Sirius had placed the wine glass down and moved around the table to embrace James.

"Nice save, Padfoot," James said, thumping his friend on the back.

"Not like I haven't done it before, Prongsie." As they pulled away, he winked.

Only after Lily and Lia's crying ceased did they move into the living room to talk further. Remus and Peter had both been invited to the little get together but James had been told Remus was on a mission for the Order and Peter had given a late reply that he had family matters to attend to. Aurelia thought it might have been awkward for the announcement to be made in front of the others anyway and was somewhat glad the two were occupied.

When they were told several days later, there was sincerity in their voices as they congratulated the couple, but there was also buried jealousy. Aurelia wasn't surprised that Peter was the one to ask the question they were both thinking.

"Isn't that a bit risky, with you two being…you two?"

Sirius frowned at the generality, but eyed his friends like he didn't know what he was referring to. "How do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that you both sometimes get…you're often…you have a history of splitting up!" he finally spit out.

Peter was looking at them and breathing heavily as if saying the sentence had been exhausting and Remus was trying to look everywhere but at Aurelia.

"Peter and Remus, you silly, _silly_ men," she said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Just wait, all right? I know it's difficult for you because you're so impatient"—they looked offended—"but you'll be godfathers soon enough."

All three men stared at her, eyes wide. Sirius' mouth was agape.

"Not by me, you twits!" she explained quickly and put a hand under her boyfriend's chin to close his mouth for him. "Get yourselves girlfriends and maybe you'll have a chance then."

"Hey!" said Remus defensively. "I have one, thank you very much."

"Moony, your diluted belief that the author of _A __Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry _has a thing for you doesn't count in this situation."

Aurelia knew he was back to normal because otherwise Sirius wouldn't have tried to make fun so soon. She figured it was safe to wrap her arm around his waist.

"That's not—" Remus looked flustered and embarrassed. "She does! Lia, does a woman squeeze your arse just to say good-bye the first time you meet?"

She fingered the nonexistent beard on her chin. "Can't be sure. Was it like this?"

Remus almost yelped at the unexpected hand that gripped the back of his trousers and stepped away to make sure Aurelia had no more access to his backside. Sirius smacked her upside the head as she tried to suppress the giant smirk playing on her face.

"Yes, that was how it felt," Remus said, his cheeks a pale red.

"Truly? In that case, she _certainly_ likes you," she said knowledgably. "She was probably fairly desperate and, had you let her, she would have taken you to the back of that book signing, if you know what I mean."

Before his normal pale skin color returned to his face, Peter asked, "You have a real girlfriend now?"

"Shannon Hurst," he announced with a proud smile.

"How old is she?" Peter asked. "What's she look like?"

"How is she in bed?"

Aurelia turned to smack Sirius.

"Darling, this is man talk," he explained casually, running his hands through his jousted hair. "Why don't you go withdraw some money from your Gringotts account? I know how much you like to ride the vault carts."

Their visit to Diagon Alley had been less than productive since they had met up with Peter and Remus outside Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. She would let no one peek inside _that_ bag, which sparked a rather interesting conversation.

Peter turned away from the group and Sirius said, "Not you, Peter, yah nutter!"

"I have to go; family business," he said, waving. "I'll talk to you all later. Especially you, Remus!"

"He's had quite a bit of family time, hasn't he?" pondered Sirius aloud.

Aurelia turned on the two remaining men with glaring eyes. "I _am_ going to Gringotts and I_ will_ enjoy riding the carts." She shifted her feet and walked in the opposite direction. Before she was ten steps away, she turned around and held up the bag, calling back, "And I will _not_ wear this for you tonight!" It gave her a twinge of satisfaction to watch that lustful grin turn to a pout.

- - - - -

Kidnap, Silvia decided, was such a harsh word. There was the certain element of unlawful seizure and detainment to the action as a whole, but otherwise it was perfectly civilized. A sort of self-righteousness surrounded the concept that made it so it couldn't possibly be as horrendous as people made it out to be.

And yet, in regards to the person to which she was to pressgang, she could not find an ounce of civility in the act.

The whole ordeal made her feel decidedly unclean and in need of a long bath. She was under orders though, and failure to complete this task, deemed vital for reasons unknown to her, would result in an unsatisfactory punishment. She would likely lose a hand or some other such appendage that she would rather keep attached. When she really thought about it, Peter Pettigrew wasn't reason enough to lose anything on her body.

That miserable man was the _real_ source to the Order of the Phoenix. Sure, Severus was a member, but they didn't trust him as far as his greasy hair could leave a smear. Peter, however, was a trusted friend of the those who were the heart and soul of the little organization. Worst of all, that included her cousin, for which she heartily blamed Black. And Dumbledore.

He had weaseled his way into their circle and found that the bonds of friendship were not enough to hold him there. Rather, the threat of Voldemort and his growing recognition of the 'winning' side prompted his need to get in the good graces of the Dark Lord. And what better way than to sell out his friends like a unnerved canary?

But really, could he have been more obvious if he had tried?

He was supposed to be somewhere around Diagon Alley according to the members that had been previously assigned the task of tracking his movements. The little rat wasn't in Diagon Alley. No, he was scrounging around Knockturn Alley. Currently staring intently at a Hand of Glory within Borgin & Burkes, Silvia could see him through the dingy windows of the establishment.

Borgin was a particular comrade of the cause, having known the leader in the years before his transformation. That being the case, he knew the usual Death Eater crowd that would visit his shop every so often for that coveted item. The weakling in his domain currently was the farthest thing from those people. He did however recognize a figure outside, lurking in the shadows, but made no comment on it.

Pettigrew was twitchy, going from one item in the shop to another. It appeared that he was nervous. What about, exactly, was uncertain. His palms were sweat-streaked and an anxious humming emitted from his tightly closed lips. He looked paranoid, his eyes darting left and right.

He made his way out of the shop and into the poorly lit street. Silvia broke off her conversation to an old wizened woman, coin passing hands in exchange for a few human fingernails from the platter. She kept her distance, feeling he suspected someone to be following him, but never lost sight of the odd little rat. When he made an unfortunate turn down an alleyway, she knew this was her chance.

Usually she had a flare for the dramatic, but this case needed subtlety. She glanced once again over her shoulder before proceeding into the alley. Her head snapped forwards to gaze upon her quarry. He seemed to have figured out his error with mild irritation, but the fact that he came face to face with his predator caused his features to pale considerably.

"Surprised to see me, Peter?"

He did look surprised, and she was satisfied with her stealth.

"Do…do I know you?" His voice quavered and it only augmented once he heard her mirthless laughter.

Lifting the sleeve off her arm slightly, she brought it into his line of sight. "Look more familiar now?"

"A bit," he choked. That tattoo had this effect on many people and she enjoyed watching the fear increase in his eyes as she showed it to him. He knew this visit wasn't just a pleasurable "how do you do?"

"He wants to see you. It's time to prove your worth and make yourself worthy to be marked," Silvia stated as she walked closer towards him. She noted his recoil but ignored it. Grasping his arm tightly, she grinned down at him. "And then it's straight to curse resistance."

He gulped. Her smile wasn't in the least bit reassuring, but he had no time to comment as she apparated both of them out of the alleyway and off to meet the Dark Lord to learn of his fate.

* * *

**Authors Note:** If anyone else wants cookies, feel free to review. Any time. The button is just below. (nudgenudge, winkwink) 


	16. Logic and Reason

**Authors' Note:** We are happy to say we have now planned every single thing out, down to the tiniest detail, out for the next six chapters. Hopefully it will go much faster than it has been! Sorry for the long wait...

* * *

_Past_

**Chapter XVI**_**  
**Logic and Reason_

Her rucksack sat open and forgotten atop the trolley, its precious contents spilling out of the sides because its owner had neglected to pay it any attention after the incident with the Slytherin. While she was checking her bag for her wand, Aurelia's trunk had somehow mysteriously unlocked itself and her uniforms and school equipment were suddenly strewn across the floor of Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She smiled satisfactorily to herself as she replaced the clothing into neat piles in her trunk, well aware that the culprit had gotten what she'd deserved. The dirty Slytherin bitch got a Trip Jinx to the back and her feet failed her even though there was nothing for them to fumble over.

Luckily she was already of age so she didn't have to worry about having to jumble the Ministry's sense of direction when it came down to Reasonable Restriction of Underage Wizardry.

It wasn't personal. At least, she didn't think it was. She only knew the girl as one of Silvia's friends and nothing more. Actually, she didn't think she'd ever so much as talked to the girl—her name _might_ have been Tidra…or possibly Tilda. It was just the fact that she was a Gryffindor and that all lion hearts were to be despised by the House of Snakes. As her cousin walked by her cleaning up the mess, she noticed she didn't embarrass her by laughing, but Aurelia had sensed the mirth behind those familiar grey eyes and she emitted a low growl from her throat at the sight of it.

So now they were shunning each other. Splendid. She wished she had known that sooner or she would have ignored the git completely as she walked by.

After grabbing a scarlet- and gold-striped tie off the ground, she looked up to meet another pair of familiar grey eyes. A little ways below them was a smirk.

"I'm thinking these are yours as well," Sirius said coolly, holding up a pair of her black knickers that had somehow slid out of her line of sight. She snatched them away from him and tossed them in the trunk, giving him a reproving look. "Sorry, Lia. Couldn't help myself."

With that charming smile seeking after her, she knew she couldn't stay mad at him for long.

They kissed amidst the scattered Potions ingredients as a greeting and pulled apart only because a Muggle couple was scurrying around to get their first year on the train in a hurry. Lia didn't understand their haste. It was only 10:50 after all. Sirius explained that Muggles were stereotypical worrywarts as James came running up to them.

"What's your rush, mate?" said Sirius, brushing the pieces of the broken bottle, that_ had_ held her scarab beetles, aside with his shoe.

James smirked as he panted. "I just told those Muggles the train was due to leave any second. They got all flustered and started running, so I figured I'd join them to give the idea the kick it needed to make it believable."

This evil, juvenile prank sent Sirius into barking laughter.

"You little prick," she said, shoving him in the shoulder. The smirk didn't leave his face, however.

"You'd change your mind if you'd seen the look on the kid's face."

She hesitated before confessing, "Yeah, you're probably right."

Lily joined them a moment later holding out her Head Girl badge for them to see. Aurelia jumped up, squealing, and gave her friend a giant hug. Before any other announcements could be made, their attention was turned to James fumbling through his rucksack. Once he grasped something, he made a bad attempt to pull it out. But whatever it was caught hold of the fabric and flew out of the bag, colliding with Sirius' forehead. It was all quite obviously an act, but the injured boy had not been forewarned and was quick to throw the object in question right back at James. It hit him hard in the chest and made him curl into himself while still standing. Finally, he picked the thing up from the floor and gazed at it quizzically.

"Huh," he said, acting as if he'd never seen it before. "How'd _this_ get in my pack?"

Aurelia snatched it from his hands and her jaw dropped as she read the inscription of the perfectly polished Head Boy badge. Other hands snatched it from her in turn and a tiny gasp could be heard to her left.

"It's safe to say this'll be the best year at Hogwarts ever!" Sirius said victoriously as his and James' bodies crashed in a very manly hold. Out of nowhere, Peter's arms wrapped around the two—a clear disruption of the embrace's masculinity. They shoved him off and Peter shoved them back.

"I swear, you three stopped developing after third year," said Remus from behind Aurelia. Without taking time to agree with the statement, Lia grabbed the badge out of James' hand and shoved it into Remus' chest. He recoiled and groaned slightly with the impact, but held it in place before saying, "What? No hug?"

"Sorry," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "Now, _look__at it!_"

"Well, Dumbledore's sure got a very odd sense of humor…"

After a few seconds of a raised eyebrow at his response, the statement registered. "No, it isn't mine! It belongs to_ James_."

Remus looked down at the badge again and than up at James. "It's either the humor thing or he's just finally lost his mind."

He earned a few punches and shoves for that.

"Lia, what's all your stuff doing on the ground?" asked Peter after Lily had left, clearly still in shock at Potter's news. It made Aurelia snicker; it was just so cute.

"Oh! Hey, now that you're all here, maybe you'd want to help me clean up since I can't—" All four of them had started to walk away at 'clean'. "C'mon, guys!" she pleaded, shouting after them. The second try being no more successful, she stooped down to gather up the rest of her things, muttering, "Bloody effing Gryffindors."

- - - - -

"Ow! Oh bugger, I hate you!" Silvia exclaimed as once again she jammed her toe on the accursed wheeled contraption before her. She simply didn't understand the use for it when she could just as easily levitate all her luggage across the platform. The fact that there were Muggles around did not factor in at all.

The metallic cart wheezed as she pushed it forwards again. It didn't help any that numerous people were already staring at her for an eccentric choice in hair care. But personally, she thought navy went with anything. Moreover, her mother was practically beside herself with each new colorful revelation. And really, Silvia couldn't help herself. Around her mother, she was prone to switch into full-on bitch mode.

Continuing on her way, she finally reached the entrance and let out a gusty sigh. "About time," she muttered and made her way through the seemingly impassible barrier. "And on to the great joys of knowledge and learning."

Having reached Platform Nine and Three Quarters she let her wand do the walking and just continued until she found a suitable doorway. Of course she couldn't help but notice when Tidra had the misfortune to come across her cousin. Suffice it to say, she was proud of the younger girl. Even managed not to laugh. She deserved some sort of chocolate for that feat.

Silvia caught up to the girl and slung an arm around her shoulders. "I would have to say that I'm down right impressed with that there entertainment."

Tidra grinned. "She looked like she needed some help. It was the civilized thing to do." They walked onto the brightly-colored locomotive and down the crowded hallway.

"So right you are. Now, I've got to go see if I can find that estranged roommate of mine. If you'll excuse me." She walked down the hallway with a little wiggle of her fingers to the other girl in a form of parting. Navy hair swept over her shoulder as she found the compartment she was searching for, currently unoccupied.

Grinning, she walked in and set to making sure her things were secure. Once satisfied, she took out a book to weather the wait for her companions. It was then that she noticed one of her socks slipping slightly down her calf. Perturbed, she perched it on one of the seats and tugged the unruly cotton further up, using a spell to secure it this time.

Looking up, she brushed the strands of hair that fell in her face. She missed it being shorter; it was less of a hassle then. That was when her eyes noticed she had a visitor. Straightening, she placed a hand on her hip and cocked her head.

"Please don't stop on account of me."

"You're such a prick, Evan," Silvia scoffed as she ran her hands over her skirt, clearing it of imaginary dirt.

He smirked. "Ah, but that's part of my charm." Walking—no, sauntering—up to her, he let the compartment door close of its own accord. "Although I don't quite know that your mother would approve of _your_ charm. Is there a skirt there?"

"What? You don't like it? I'm told it's the latest fashion in the Americas. And mum is _always_ telling me I should be more fashionable." She walked a little closer to meet him in the rapidly shrinking area separating them.

"I don't think this is quite what she meant," Evan stated. His hands hovered over her arms before settling on her hips. "I trust you had a good summer."

"Wonderful, if not lacking in excitement. I told you to visit you know." She sounded cross, but the fact that her hands were snaking up to his shoulders told a different story entirely.

He looked down at her with a wicked grin. "Really? I hear France is lovely this time of year."

"You would."

Silvia had worked her way out of his hold and strode purposefully away towards the window. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest in a defensive motion. Her back was to him, which was a regrettable mistake. Walking behind her, his hand wound around her stomach, pulling her closer to him. He leaned in until his mouth was directly next to her ear. "Did you miss me?"

"Not really," she whispered, still refusing to look at him.

"Well, then I guess I'll go find someone who did miss me."

She waited a few seconds when he was near the middle of the compartment before turning around, grinning. "Hey Rosier."

Evan turned to look at her. "Yes, Colton?" He was teasing her and they both knew it, although his face showed nothing but mild curiosity and slight annoyance.

Running, albeit shortly, she jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist. Being unprepared for the weight, Evan stumbled backwards and gave way to gravity. He lifted his head and gave her a look that all but said, 'Was that really necessary?' She in turn just grinned cheekily and pulled herself up towards his face. Her hands found it and brought it towards her own. When she pulled away, she was still grinning at him. "I missed you a little."

"You didn't have to assault me to tell me," he groaned as he let his head fall back against the floor. Already he could feel a small ache going down his back. This would smart in the morning.

"Admit it, this way was more fun."

He raised a hand to caress a nonexistent beard on his chin. "I suppose you're right," he said. His arms wrapped around her and he flipped them over. Nimble digits went to her clothed sides and traced up and down them. He grinned as she tried to writhe out of his reach, her breath coming in pants.

"Evan! Stop…I'm g…going to…hex you!" she gasped as she vainly attempted to escape his fingers. It had been sometime last year that he had discovered her extremely ticklish sides.

"Oh, get a room," a girl commanded as she entered the compartment with several other persons of the Slithery House. They were all getting situated in the small confinement, walking around the couple entangled on the floor.

"Didn't you notice, this is a room," Evan pointed out as he bent down to kiss the giggling girl beneath him amid various gagging noises.

- - - - -

Lily usually hung out around the Marauders only because Aurelia sometimes did. And because Emily always hung around Lily, she shuffled into the compartment with them. That was only after all the prefects and Heads had gone and done their thing around the train. Before that, Sirius, Peter and Aurelia had had the compartment all to themselves and they were quite content with that. So when the other four persons came tumbling through the door, there were issued a few audible groans.

There wasn't nearly enough room for everyone, but they managed to fit in by way of cramming. How they did it was quite comical to watch and by the end, they were exhausted. All four boys had fallen asleep very soon afterwards.

Aurelia rested on Remus' back as he breathed softly, her head moving up and down with his chest cavity. Remus was gently positioned against Emily, who was leaning against the side of the compartment. Aurelia's feet sat in Sirius' lap while his head rested in hers. He was sort of stretched out across the pathway of the door, his feet next to Lily's hip. She was against the banister beside the doorway while Peter snored loudly to her right. Down the seat further, James' legs were stretched out across the width of the window to rest beside Emily. He was nearly sitting on the ground because Peter took up so much of the seat.

Aurelia and Lily were the only ones up forty minutes into the ride because with the extra warmth her boyfriend was offering and the rhythm of his breathing, Emily had also fallen asleep. Glancing across the compartment at her friend, Lia smiled and mouthed, "How are you, Head Girl?"

Lily smiled back and moved her lips to form, "Tired."

Lia leaned into Remus a little and closed her eyes for a few second to signal falling asleep, but Lily just sighed and shook her head. She read "Why?" on her friend's lips before shrugging.

Aurelia wanted to help Lily by getting her a bit of spare Sleeping Draught she had in her trunk, but there was a chance that it had broken when the trunk fell. The main reason she didn't want to move was simply because she couldn't. She was wedged in between Sirius and Remus so well that any major movement on her part was certain to wake them up.

"Sleeping Draught," Aurelia mouthed, accentuating the words, and pointed up with one finger.

Lily got the message and scooted around Peter, making sure she didn't push Sirius' feet off the seat as she did so. She rummaged through the clothes and finally, after examining three other bottles, found the potion.

She uncorked the bottle and handed it to Aurelia, who took a quick swig and passed it back. It was quite effective, perhaps too much, because her eyes slid shut almost instantaneously and they didn't open again until the Sorting Hat started singing. She was later told that Sirius had had to carry her off the train because not even the obnoxious antics of the Marauders were capable of waking her.

She made a note to ask Lily to put directions on the back of the bottles for her from now on.

- - - - -

It was tradition at Hogwarts for the students to gather in the Great Hall after they had arrived at the castle. The first feast of the year was held and the first years were sorted into their various houses, but something about this year made the feast decidedly unsavory. It would do no good to pretend she was enjoying it.

Instead of joining in the revelry and food, she was alone and brooding in the Astronomy Tower.

Honestly, if someone walked by at that very moment, Silvia would no doubt be thrown some sap line about it, "not being worth it". Really, it was quite a compromising position. Though, somehow sitting on the deserted tower's edge with the wind whipping at her clothes was soothing, even if her hair was constantly swirling into her face.

She told herself the wetness running down her cheeks had been carried on the wind. It hadn't been. It was all her fault, all Aurelia's fault.

She'd seen her on the train. Walking towards the food trolley, she had glanced into one of the compartments. The scene was sickeningly sweet: a bunch of seventh year Gryffindors leaning against one another, asleep. But the one that stood out was a familiar reddish-brown head.

Aurelia leaned heavily across one of the boys. Her face was so peaceful and innocent that Silvia wished it could stay that way forever. There was a hardness though; lines evident on her youthful face as she shifted in her sleep. Even there she drew in, defending herself. Despite feigned ignorance, Silvia knew why.

Her uncle, a man she knew to be sweet and gentle, had become a brute. Once realization had dawned she almost vowed to kill the man, relative or no. But Aurelia would not appreciate a battle fought for her. It was a quality she admired in her cousin.

And yet, it killed her to watch her waste away under his scrutiny.

That was the underlying problem Aurelia did not know about from their falling out the previous year. As Silvia figured, how could her cousin stand up to her uncle if she couldn't even stand up to her friends? She had overreacted, she knew this and regretted it, but nothing short of a Time-Turner would change that fact.

She had lingered for something near five minutes at the compartment window, her hand on the glass, connecting her to her cousin. "It was the wrong thing to do," she whispered before walking off, her good mood evaporated. Ever since, she had been brooding.

When she finally reached the corridor to the Common Room, the feast had long since ended. She was about to say the password when something brushed against her leg and let out a long purr. Peering down, she noticed a cat had suddenly become enamored with her. It was a dark orange with lighter stripes running across its breadth. A bushy tail seemed to ruin the refined look the creature had held. Gently picking up the feline, she scratched behind its ears. Her fingers moved under a collar and instantly sought out a tag. Spinning the metal around, she read the embossed words "Lily Evans". She smirked.

She walked into the Common Room and got a few greetings, but continued towards the corner where several eleven-year-olds were huddled together. They seemed intimidated, but were trying not to show it to their fellows. Of course, some of the influences there were not helping.

"Avery, let them be," Silvia said as she leaned against the wall, the cat cradled in her arms.

He looked up from something he had been whispering to the first years. "What you got there, Via? A new toy?"

"A present, for the kiddies." She grinned as she set down the cat in the middle of the group. She looked at them and tried not to be malicious in her intent. "Now, you guys can practice your spells."

Avery picked up the cat, glanced at the tag and laughed until his sides were numb.

- - - - -

Aurelia's positive attitude was made public first to her housemates as she sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch the following day. Her smile could have attracted nifflers and her mood was enough to bring anyone within contact of her to uneasiness at how very cheerful she was.

They did not think it possible for her smile to grow any more, but they were knocked clear of that theory as Sirius came back from detention and strutted into the Great Hall. Since the surrounding area on the bench that held his girlfriend was quite filled, he decided he didn't need his own seat. He scooted Lia's rump to the edge of the bench and sat straddling her. While he situated himself, he moved the hair away from her neck to kiss it. He stopped for a moment and inhaled the scent of her hair, which she was not aware was incredibly alluring.

"Now, how did you come by this fragrance?" he asked, placing both hands on her thighs as she buttered her toast.

"I stole the shampoo from Lily," she said, fingering the curvature of his knee subconsciously. "Don't tell her. I'll probably be expelled, what with her being Head Girl and all."

"You know, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, but for a moment did not speak at all as he felt Aurelia's fingers traveling aimlessly across the length of his trousers. He almost let himself groan before he realized his mind had drifted and he tried to ignore those seductive fingertips. "James has been acting a bit big in the head since—"

"—he was eleven," Aurelia supplied, turning her head to meet Sirius' fathomless grey eyes. She swam in them for a moment before she realized his mouth was moving.

"But you can't blame the poor bloke. He's been spoiled all his life and since he's got to be the best at everything…"

"No, I understand. I used to be spoiled." _Before._

Sirius spotted the conversation's halt from several words away and he wished he could have kept his mouth shut. Aurelia was well aware of the fact. She noticed him playing with her hair as she poured a glass of pumpkin juice, meaning he had finally discovered the only new thing that had happened to her over the summer.

"You got your hair cut," he said, reaching for the glass she had just poured for herself.

"Well spotted." Her answer came sarcastically. He was male and therefore she should have expected him not to have been aware of the change sooner.

He hummed into her ear and then brushed the new slanted bangs out of her face. "I don't like it," he said, and just as she was giving him a reproachful look, he continued with, "It hides your beautiful eyes."

Aurelia smiled and kissed his cheek, and felt beneath her lips something that didn't belong. She moved a few fingers over his stubble, saying, "You thinking of growing a beard, Mr. Black?"

Grinning to himself, he grabbed a roll off the table and ripped a piece off with his teeth. After his mouth was empty, he asked, "Why? Do you think they're sexy?"

"Beards?" She was repulsed and showed it. "No, love. Not in the slightest…but this little bit here, I like." Lia made her way up from his cheek to his mouth, twisting her shoulder back to bring him in closer. They were wrapped in the moment and tried to remain so even when Lily was whispering something fierce at them. Aurelia just ignored her. Suddenly, Sirius had slid off the bench, bringing her with, and they were on the floor in a could-be scandalous way, staring up at an irritated Slughorn.

"You two finished?" he asked.

"Actually, we thought we'd—"

Aurelia quickly clasped a hand over her boyfriend's mouth before he could get whatever smart remark he was going to say out of it. She tried to smile up at the professor, but his expression did not falter.

"Do you make a habit of showing off how much you like each other's mouths?" Slughorn asked. "Because I know I've seen you doing something of this"—he waved a hand at their position—"before."

"We've never—! _Sir_, if you'll allow me to explain…" Aurelia said brazenly. Slughorn hunched his shoulders and waited. Despite her willingness to clarify the state of affairs, there was really nothing she could say that would help the situation. She looked up at him, her mouth open. "Um…"

Sirius tired to help. "The thing is, we—"

"—have detention. Tomorrow at seven. Bring some rags. No wands."

After they'd stood up and seen Slughorn leave the hall, Aurelia turned to him and said, "Thanks for trying. It was worth a shot."

"With his mood, it wouldn't have done any good even if we had come up with a decent excuse," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and guiding her back to her seat. "I'd like to know what's got his wand in a knot, though."

James and Remus sat down almost the same time as Sirius and Aurelia got situated back in their seat, but Peter was still talking to Flitwick away down the hall. Remus stared at James' hand, which was holding a fork carefully. His expression was priceless, not knowing how he was going to eat what was in the dish before him. Aurelia glanced to the bowl of strew in front of her, to which Sirius held up his own fork.

"And how exactly do you figure you're going to be eating that with those?" Lily asked, smiling in genuine amusement.

"Well, there aren't any spoons!" Sirius retaliated, both him and James glancing around the table for the lost utensils. Aurelia raised an eyebrow at Remus and Lily and picked up the spoon that was lying atop the napkin on her right, holding it plainly in front of his face so that he went cross-eyed.

"Where'd you find that?" James asked, snatching the spoon away before Sirius could grab it.

Aurelia rolled her eyes and leaned over the table, placing one hand on each boy's forehead, and pulled back the hair that was covering their faces. Their eyes opened wide and they said, "Ooh!" in unison.

"You both need to chop off some of that mess."

"Do you even realize what you just said, Aurelia?" James said, making a face.

"All right, I know I won't be able to persuade you…" But she turned to Sirius and he backed up on the bench, knocking into a little fifth year, an offense for which he failed to apologize.

"What now? I can't grow a beard, I can't shave, I have to get a bloody haircut. Do I have to run everything by you?"

"Blimey, and I thought Lily was bossy," said James, peering around Remus to see what her reaction was, but there was none to his comment. She was laughing, almost to the point of hysterics, and no one knew the reason until she gasped out, "Sirius—have a beard!"

Everyone within hearing range began cracking up, and even Aurelia tried unsuccessfully to bite back a few giggles.

"Oh, you think it's funny, do you?" Sirius said loudly, standing up on the bench. Everyone watched him, but the sound of laughter was nearly as loud as before. "I can _grow_ a beard, unlike some of you brainless gits, and I'd make it look damn near erotic, too!" Aurelia spotted Peter walking their way and a little head bobbing up and down behind him. She tugged on Sirius' trousers to try to make him sit down. "The only reason I don't is because my girlfriend won't snog me if I do. Good afternoon, professor!"

Upon hearing this, all the noise suddenly died down to a few coughs. Flitwick, being the small little man that he was, had slipped by the crowd unnoticed and stood directly behind James, hands on his hips, staring up at the troublemaker, who was now four times his height due to the standing support of the bench.

"You know that disruption during mealtimes is taken quite seriously," the teacher squeaked. After looking around at the students sitting near enough to see him (which was reportedly not many), he glanced back to Sirius. "You will report to my classroom at six o'clock tomorrow for detention, Mr. Black. Enjoy the rest of your meal."

"Oy, double Herbology _and_ double detention in the same day," said Sirius as he slid into his seat.

"Four detentions in two days, Seer?" James looked impressed. "Grand start to the new year."

"Five, actually," he grumbled. "Indecent behavior with Lia."

"What else is new?"

That earned him a carrot to the forehead. "Stop whinging, Sirius," said Aurelia, dunking a roll in her bowl. "You brought it upon yourself. I tried to warn you, but I figured I'd have pulled your trousers down to your ankles before you noticed what I was on about. Now, shut up and eat your stew." He glared at her for a moment and then picked up the fork. "With a spoon, numbskull!"

"You'd call her abusive, wouldn't you, Remus?"

"Leave me out of this, birdbrain."

He threw his hands up in the air. "You've turned all my friends against me!"

"Prick."

"Witch."

"And proud."

He placed his fork in the bowl, forgotten, and pulled at the graying fabric he'd managed to wrap around his hand, as it had become slack. The dirty rag that covered half his hand actually made him look tough to the younger students because, _Oh Merlin! He's defiled his uniform!_ He said he wore it because Professor McGonagall said it made him look like a hooligan. He still didn't have a clue as to what the word meant, but he liked the sound of it.

Aurelia tried to take the opportunity, while everyone was finishing up their meal, to play around with Sirius' hair to make it more suitable for both appearance and vision. He quickly shoved her hands away and told her he would take care of it. All he did was take off the rubber band that he had spun around his index finger (Lily had given it to him last term—something about a Muggle Studies project), smoothed back the hair on his forehead and a bit more on each side, and pulled it loosely back to form a sort of ponytail. He snapped the rubber band around the small portion of hair in the back and held out his hands in a 'tada' sort of way.

She smiled. She had thought he would've still needed to get it cut as she watched him do it, but, on him, that look was actually _very… _"Sexy."

"Hey! This is the best you're getting, so shove off with the—"

"Sirius…" Lily said, not able to conceal her grin.

His eyes darted from Lily to Aurelia, confusion in them.

"I—" Sirius' eyes widened and eyebrows rose as he suddenly came to realization, mid-word. "Ooh!"

Lia leaned into him and as they began doing what they did best, James flicked his fork their way, showering them with a good deal of broth. They acted as if their white uniforms hadn't just been spotted by it.

"Yah know, Sirius is the only bloke I've ever known that could wear his hair like _that_ and still have girls all over him."

"You mistake it for feminine when really it's quite…" James gazed at the speaker, and Lily quickly turned away, bright red.

"How are we going to manage to do anything worth while when Sirius has got himself so many…prior engagements."

James tried to cheer Remus up by throwing a roll at the couple that was making the word 'closeness' something to blush at. His strong attempt failed. "We'll have loads of time to goof off, Moony. We're seventh years. We rule this school. We're proficient…intelligent, in most cases…damn, we're _elusive_. I have a feeling we'll be able to do"—he spotted the look Lily gave him and changed the wording of his sentence—"_almost_ anything we want and Dumbledore won't so much as wave a finger."

- - - - -

It was a few days later that Silvia thought to retrieve the feline from the first years and return it to its rightful owner, but the real reason that she had thought of it was because of the explosion she had heard from her dormitory.

Rushing down the stairs, she stared open-mouthed at what she saw before her. The circle of first years was soot-faced with their hair in various windswept positions. All of them had their wands out and were protectively surrounding something from view.

"What'd you do?"

"Wh…what? We…didn't do anything," a blond-haired girl managed to get out, but her eyes were extremely wide. They were all drawing into themselves and seemed to be huddling closer together. Merlin,they were even shaking. Silvia was going to kill Avery. Git had the brilliant idea to start the year off by telling the first years the only way to survive in Slytherin was to, under no circumstances, enrage Silvia Colton.

Taking a deep breath, she let the palm on her forehead fall back to her side. "All right, move aside."

"Um…no?" said a brazen little boy. Her eyes narrowed. "Please?"

She quirked an eyebrow and looked at them again. "If you won't move, would you care to explain the scorch marks on your faces?" No one seemed eager to answer her question and she could feel her patience waning. These were first years and she was not allowed to do any harm to them after those first few incidents. She pushed one of them aside and her eyes widened.

"What'd you do?" She exclaimed as she bent down to pick up the single object at the apex of the scorch marks. The simple black collar rested in her hands with a damaged metal tag that still held the original embossing.

"Oh, Evans is not going to like this," Silvia muttered as she stood up, leaving the terrified eleven-year-olds to their own devices. She had killed the Gryffindor Golden Girl's pet inevitably and now she had to figure out a way to present the current information to the owner.

For the rest of that day, she sat by the window, thinking. Absentmindedly, her fingers would glean over the frayed edges as she stared out blankly. No one was able to gain any sort of reaction from her, even though many tried. Evan knew better than to distract her, even if it would have worked.

He sat calmly on one of the couches near her window and read from one of the books he had acquired from the library. He didn't so much as move when suddenly his girlfriend jumped and ran up the flight of stairs to the dormitories. Then, she came back down and ran straight out of the Common Room; every other person in the room was staring at her in fascination.

- - - - -

Aurelia sat down next to Lily on the couch in the Common Room, sighing as she did so. A furtive glance came her way and then the Head Girl rested her chin back down on the couch arm and continued to stare into the flames of the fireplace.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

Aurelia put her feet on the couch and removed her shoes with her toes, then curled into herself beside the cushions. She didn't want to answer because of how bummed it would make her that she really had no news to report. She was just tired of how boring the school year had turned out to be so far.

There was nothing extraordinary about them being seventh years. The teachers all still treated them like they were twelve, the other students back-talked them and, though there was some satisfaction in filling their mouths with soap bubbles, it was not enough for anyone to get excited about. Even Lily was dying for someone to reprimand.

Whenever anyone sighed the Sigh of Boredom, it was obvious what was wrong. They needed something to cheer them up. Freedom to pull a good prank or some other such action would've heightened their spirits, even if that prank could only be titchy.

"Nothing," Aurelia replied, gliding her fingers over the book next to Lily's thigh. "_Learn to Fly High and Not Die_? Where'd you get this piece of crap from, Gambol & Japes?"

"It happens to be," Lily said, not moving her chin from the arm, making her head bob up and down as she spoke, "a quality secondhand item for which I am not at all regretful of buying."

"Yeah? And how exactly does it teach you?" She then mocked, "'Raise broom handle, grip firmly, don't fall.' I can't believe you paid money for this."

"Lia," said the Head Girl, raising her chin off the arm and glaring. "Not all of us can be spectacular fliers. Some of us _have_ to make our way on stupid books like this because we have no idea what we're doing."

"You can fly. I've seen you."

"Not well," Lily corrected.

Aurelia smirked at the exasperated expression on her friend's face. "Well, I can teach you!" she suggested. "We can put in a few hours in the Quidditch pitch when the teams aren't practicing. Oh, this'll be so much fun! And it definitely beats sitting indoors all day reading books."

Lily smiled so big her teeth sparkled. "You'd do that for me?"

Surprise crept over Lia. "Um, hello! Do you even remember that we're friends?" She held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Aurelia. Nice to meet you."

The redhead swatted her hand away, but continued to smile. They were talking about game plans for when to practice flying when a crow began pecking on the window pane. It got irksome after awhile, so Aurelia got up to shoo the pestilent bird off, but she spotted that it had a piece of paper tied to its leg. Not caring enough to wonder how on earth someone had trained a crow to do an owl's bidding, she opened the window to slowly take the paper without encouraging it to bite her. It did anyway when it suddenly heard Lily's inquiring voice, but it was just a little nip that she would have to deal with later.

The crow flew away and Aurelia stood at the window, staring at the object and piece of paper she held. Lily got anxious and peeked over her shoulder to see what it was, but Aurelia quickly turned to prevent her from seeing it.

"And why do you get to see it and I can't?" she said irritably, her arms crossed. That was never a good sign.

"I—well, it's for you," Aurelia said, still holding it behind her back.

"Then give it to me. Lia, now! I'm not asking!" Lily reached around her back and snatched the piece of paper and the object tied to it out of her hands. "What _is_—" The flushed redhead couldn't finish the sentence without starting a fire. It was horrid. It was immoral. It was…it was…

A black collar, a little charred at the edges, with a gold tag where the owner's name was written. The bit of parchment attached read:

_Curiosity killed the cat, and civility couldn't hold the snake back._

Lily's hands shook as she closed her fist tightly around the collar. Aurelia felt how much she wanted to explode with fury. It was easy to say that no good could come from what was formulating inside her head.

"I believe we owe the Slytherins a little one-on-one time," Lia said, pinching back the venom in her voice. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Even in her present state, it was a real shocker to witness Lily nodding in conformity of _that _suggestion.

- - - - -

It was silent, which considering the circumstances was not entirely encouraging. It wasn't the fact that this situation had never happened before. All had been in this room. Of course, some of those instances had not been at all trouble-oriented, but a fair number were.

Currently, the fact that silence was overruling everything was daunting to say the very least.

Someone coughed, muffling the sound as much with their fist as they could, but it seemed to break whatever had held the room in silence. From behind his half-mooned spectacles, Dumbledore stared at the four girls before him and had to resist the urge to sigh heavily and let his head hit his hand.

A red-haired girl bearing a maroon and gold tie sat in the chair farthest to the right. Her left half was covered in what appeared to be something green while the right now sported several feathers. Her green eyes were downcast, aside from the portions of time when she would glare at the girl three seats away from her.

In the seat preceding that one sat an auburn-haired girl with a matching tie. She was covered fully in the green substance, which appeared to be quite sticky, if not slimy, especially due to what seemed like fur underneath. Almost on impulse, her fingers dug into the ornate chair beneath them. Her grey eyes did not waver from her lap.

Next to her was a scorched-faced girl, the contents of her usually silky hair were frizzed and slightly smoking. It was suspected that the putrid odor in the room was also radiating off of her form, but it wasn't confirmed. She sat pristinely in the chair, yet glared back at the redhead.

Lastly sat a navy-haired girl, whose whole body seemed to be drenched and showed no signs of drying. Over the matted surface of her hair sat a glorious set of antlers and it seemed to be that her ears were twitching back and forth in a most happy rhythm.

And of course it was the state of themselves that had caused this joyful meeting to be held. Of the five persons in the room, Dumbledore could say he was by far the one with the most joy. He looked over the four girls, whom had been found in a previously deserted hallway on the fourth floor. Mr. Woldrum had practically screeched when he saw the mayhem he would be required to service. Poppy had had to tend to him almost immediately, such was his frail health.

This left them to assemble in his office, to wait for their Heads of Houses.

"This is all your fault, Minny!"

"Do _not_ call me _Minny_. And this particular instance happens to involve certain members of your house that cannot seem to control themselves when it comes to mischief."

Slughorn's and McGonagall's argumentative voices could be heard from the staircase below.

"_Oh!_" The Potions Master's face was most likely turning red by this point. "And I suppose you're all guilt free! I happen to know that certain members of _your_ house get more detentions than [some creatures have offspring!"

McGonagall sniffed. "You cannot judge the many by a few, Horace."

"Apparently _you _can!"

"No," she said. "I judge the many." The doors opened and they walked into the circular room. "Professor, I hope we are not late."

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled with mirth, but his face was otherwise impassive. "No, you are quite on time." He waited until the two teachers had stood behind their respective students. "Now, I would like you girls to tell me what happened."

No one volunteered to go first.

He raised his eyebrows until finally the girl with the antlers, Silvia Colton, spoke up.

"We were having a philosophical debate, professor."

"A debate?" he queried, looking to the other girls who all nodded empathetically. "Over what, may I ask?"

"Over the rightful ownership of goblin-made possessions," the feathered girl, Lily Evans, supplied. "You see professor, Elizabeth," she nodded towards the frizzed girl, "believes it belongs to the goblin, while I believed it to be to the wizard who purchased it."

"And then I walked up, followed shortly by Silvia, and we became involved in the debate," the slimed one, Aurelia Colton, added, barely glancing at her cousin as she said her name.

"Things escalated after that," Elizabeth said, with no hint of anything to suppose otherwise on her face.

Dumbledore steepled his fingers in thought. "I see. And why did you think it necessary to use magic to solve this particular predicament?"

"I fear that was my fault, professor," Silvia admitted, trying to look contrite. "I was reaching in my robes for an article of proof when Lily, I believe, thought I was drawing a wand and defended herself. I should have explained myself first."

"Is this true?"

"Yes," the redhead confirmed, her fingers trembling slightly.

"Very well. As a foremost punishment, you will each be serving detention of your Heads' choosing, plus any additional they see fit. Also, twenty points will be taken from your houses for each of your misjudgments on the matter." No one complained, although the urge was strong. Dumbledore's half-moon glasses slid down to perch slightly lower on his crooked nose as he surveyed the four girls. "You will also be assisting Mr. Woldrum in cleaning up the mess you made in a widely-used hallway, creating quite an inconvenience to your fellow students. I hope you learn in the time spent that debates, while admirable, should be settled with words and not wands."

Lily sniffed her nose, but it was due more to the fact that a feather had worked its way to her nostril.

"I do not condone this rivalry that has built between your two houses in particular, so any future stunts like this will result in quality time spent between the two offenders. On a happier note," he added as cheerfully as he could, "Madam Pomfrey has the infirmary all ready for you, if you would like to remove the various decorations you have acquired for your…debate."

The girls filed out and he could just hear the beginnings of their conversation.

"A philosophical debate? Over _goblins_?"

"If you're so brilliant, you should have come up with something better!"

"Anything would have been better."

"Shut up. Let's go down to the infirmary before we have to spend _quality time_ together."

The situation in his office was hardly any better.

"You see! Miss Evans started it. Which doesn't seem probable, true, but still!" Slughorn hissed lowly to McGonagall.

She tilted her head to one side, regarding him. "And if I was not mistaken, Miss Colton provoked her."

"She was reaching for an article, not her wand!"

"A likely story."

"That _is_ the story!"

"Horace. Minerva." Dumbledore gazed at them from behind his desk. "Please, continue on with your discussion from the pretense of my office, if you would be so kind."

"Of course, Albus," McGonagall said as she walked towards the door in a heated debate with Slughorn.

It was only after they were gone and he was in the solidarity of his office that he allowed his head to gravitate towards the polished surface. It was going to be one of those years.

- - - - -

Aurelia fingered the side of the beam, wrapping her hand around it, clutching to it tightly. A frightened owl swept into the air from its stand behind the couple, fluttering out its wings. Lia felt the feathers against her shoulder but she paid it no heed. She was intently focused on what was happening to her neck. As Sirius was caressing her skin with his lips, her feet were sinking into the floor, her legs turning to gelatin. She had to resort to supporting herself with the wooden beam.

The poor messengers in the owlry had to put up with the seventh years' continuous snogging. Some, like the most recent that took flight, were flustered by their obstruction of privacy, but the two students could find no where that a teacher would be less likely to find them 'displaying their affections', and it had not worked so well publicly. One instance had resulted in a detention of doing _wandless_ laundry, which resulted, incidentally, in the same action they were punished for. This, in turn, resulted in a scolding when found by the headmaster that night, but he didn't seem too upset about it as he smiled when he turned away.

Various students passed through the owlry in the half hour they occupied the tower, but they ignored them. Some taunted, some teased and others just ignored them, but it was certainly not uncommon to see a couple snogging almost anywhere in Hogwarts at their age.

They were reprimanded harshly by Professor Sprout, who had needed to send an owl to…Aurelia's mind hadn't exactly been working at that time, so she honestly had no idea. After that, all the fiery passion had turned to smoldering ashes and they decided to take a walk around the grounds. Several minutes into the walk, they found their legs were too weak to do such a tiresome task and plopped down into the grass where they were nearly trampled by several innocent passersby, whom they shot jinxes past with intent to frighten.

Clouds passed overhead and Aurelia's lips curled into a half smile as she spotted the definite shape of one. "It's a rabbit," she said to Sirius, whose eyebrow shot up into his mess of hair.

"That looks nothing like a rabbit."

"Than it's a bunny," she rephrased defiantly.

"Is there a difference?"

"A horned toad?"

Sirius snorted. "Aurelia, if anything, it's a hippogriff."

"What?" she asked, confused. "How do you see that?"

He pointed at the sky. "Look: There's the head, the beak…"

"Not_ that_ cloud!" Aurelia moved his arm to point at the cloud she spoke of. "That one!"

"Ooh," said Sirius, then he shrugged. "Yeah, probably a rabbit."

They heard footsteps and picked their wands up from where they lay across their midriffs, but a familiar voice said, "Hey, give a bloke the benefit of the doubt!"

Aurelia smirked as she spotted the upside-down form of James approaching.

"What do you think that one is, Jamsie?" She pointed at a cloud passing directly above them. He glanced up and said, "Slytherin unicorn."

"A what?" Sirius asked.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" James explained, if somewhat ineffectively. "Just look at it: It's a unicorn with a snake tongue. Plus, it just looks evil."

Staring at the cloud and attempting not to be blinded by the sun, Aurelia said, "Oh. You're right."

James sat down in between Sirius' and Aurelia's legs, which admittedly was a difficult feat, and laid himself down in the middle, separating the two close bodies. James had made it clear that he was no longer in any way uncomfortable with the pair's relationship and by this it meant he had no conscience when it came to bantering.

After several moments of cloud-watching, James spurted the conversation of Evans and this automatically made Aurelia leer. The overconfident Head Boy had made several advances on his counterpart Girl, but she could not altogether say they had been unsuccessful. She hadn't told James this until after returning to school, because of a certain letter she had received from Lily over the summer. It was gushing about boys and how particularly excited she was to see the new Head Boy and 'make friends.' The advances, to some effect, had been creating a smoother path for James, though he was not yet triumphant in his attempts. He'd once even tried to kiss her while she was reading. That scene had been hysterical and Aurelia wished she could've had a camera with her at the time.

"Do you think she'd like something spontaneous?" asked James with eagerness.

"At this point, James? You're really going to ask her now?"

The disappointment in his features wasn't exactly the look she was expecting. "You don't think she'll say yes?"

Aurelia pouted. "No, that's the comedown. I think she will."

James leapt up on his feet, making both Sirius and Aurelia shoot into a sitting position. He almost began doing some sort of dance when his best mate stopped the humiliation with a firm jerk of his robes. He fell to the ground laughing and quite suddenly enveloped Aurelia in an extremely tight hug which she was sure would've broken a rib or two if pressed much longer.

"Merlin's pants, Lia, you smell like you fell in a dung heap!"

"Bloody owls," she muttered, and Sirius clutched his stomach as the barking laughter emitted from his throat.

They were joined, not long after, by Remus and Peter, who were engaged in a pointless discussion over the origin of the Sorting Hat that was being continued from the previous day.

"Than how can you possibly say that it wasn't bewitched with some form of personality when the songs are all different and all thought out by the hat each year?"

"A _thing_ can't be bewitched to have brains, Moony. That's like saying I can point my wand at that rock and it'll stand up and ask me the time!"

"Oy!" Sirius shouted at them over a crowd of giggling girls passing by, one of which broke off and headed towards the two. Peter continued on his way to greet his three friends, but Remus stopped in his tracks when he saw Emily moving his way. They spoke for roughly thirteen seconds and then headed off in opposite directions of the grounds.

Peter sat down beside Aurelia and Remus beside Sirius. After awhile, they all lay down again and Lia thought about what had happened between Emily and Remus. It was probably nothing, but the look on her face when she'd…_nah_. It was nothing.

"Pete, why don't you have a girl yet?" Lia spoke to the sky. She felt him twitch a little. "What?" she asked as all four boys looked her way. "I'm only asking. I mean, he's got a better chance than you would expect."

"Hey!" came a squeaky voice beside her, offended.

"No, Pete, I'm just—you could have your pick of some girls. Why aren't you after any?"

There was silence for awhile until Sirius deadpanned, "'Cuz he's not interested in 'em, love."

"That's not true!" Peter called over at him. "I—I've just been—waiting for—the right one."

"A noble quality," she said, glancing to her left where James shrugged and grinned. He always went for the next best thing when he couldn't get exactly what he wanted.

"Can't wait forever, you know."

"Yeah, you should know what that's like, Lia."

Her previous taste in boys seemed to be a little less then satisfactory, she admitted. _Possibly my current taste in boys as well,_ she thought bitterly. "Shut your trap, dog breath!"

"Hey, I just had a thought. If I'm man's best friend…" Sirius smirked and winked at the boys next to him, who all hurriedly propped themselves up into a sitting position. Aurelia followed suit so Sirius was the only one still with his back to the ground.

"Well, that would mean I couldn't date you anymore. You're not—"

"I don't know," said Remus, slapping his friend across the chest, making him yelp. "He's always had some furtiveness about him."

"Oh, you're not serious!" she pleaded mockingly.

"No," he replied pleasantly. "But I'm _with_ Sirius."

Aurelia's eyes popped and she put both hands on her hips. "Excuse me?" she said hotly.

Padfoot and Moony smiled innocently.

"I'm kidding, Lia," said Remus. "Take a joke."

"Oh, I'll take it," she said, raising up and climbing over James' legs to get to them. "I'll take it after I throw you both in the la—Ahh! James! Stop!" The command was distorted into a fit of giggles as the tickling continued.

It was minutes after she had regained her self-control, for some of the other boys had joined in on the torture and only stopped once she said she couldn't breathe.

"Those sides make you pretty weak, Lia. And climbing over James like that—you're not the brightest crup in the pen."

"At least she doesn't have to turn into a dog to get a guy's attention," James defended.

The group laughed, although Sirius remained silent and slighted.

"That's not fair. I got her _attention_ in third year when I dumped a bucket of water over her head. Other things were gradually filled in—"

"With a little shove from his puppy eyes, eh, Lia?"

Aurelia grinned, gazing over each boy's face. She figured in the time she had been dating Sirius, the boys had gotten fed up with them showing their affections publicly. She was certain the last time Sirius had grabbed her arse, she had seen Peter roll his eyes. Perhaps, she thought, it was just that she was stealing their best mate away from them. Felt horrible if she was. James she didn't worry about so much, since he was lastingly set on getting on Lily's good side and too occupied with that to care much. It was weird for them, at any rate, since Aurelia had been their friend long before Sirius had started grabbing her arse. She always wanted to make them feel like it didn't matter to her, so that it might rub off on them.

"Nah," she said carelessly, boredom in her voice. "His eyes are dull. Come to think of it, he's not much of a looker, is he?"

Sirius narrowed those supposedly dull eyes and lifted his chin. Aurelia glanced over his figure for a second and looked back at James, Remus and Peter.

She started off with, "Sort of gangly."

The boys took the signal without question.

"Hair's too clean."

"Nose's too pointy."

"Tongue's too pink."

"What side of the family gave him those feet?"

"The tie would look better on his head."

"All right, that's enough," Sirius called with a glare to Aurelia, which she rebounded with an innocent smile. Everyone broke into laughter at his expression. Their mirth was a signal in itself. Her dubious plan had worked.

"Oh, c'mon," she said, trying her hardest not to join them. "They were just itching for the chance."

* * *

**A/N: **To recap...Reviews equal happiness. Happiness equals confidence. Confidence equals more chapters, quicker. :) 


	17. Stay With Me

**A/N: **Oh, we know. Personally, I've had my part done since last year. Tan, however, is a little slow. You've gotta give her credit, though, she did finish. This chapter is really long, so be warned. I can't make any promises as to when we'll have the rest of the chapters up, but just know that the whole story is not longer than 22 chapters. Have a great April/May!

* * *

_Past_

**CHAPTER 17**  
_Stay With Me_

Silvia snickered at her glorious plan. Granted, it wasn't quite as elaborate as it had the potential to be, but it would amuse—immensely—and, really, that's all Silvia could ask for in a plan.

She had done a lot of research so that this would work out accordingly. She knew where she sat in the mornings, who was usually around her, and which owl usually delivered her mail. And she had even woken up early that morning in order to ensure that everything would work precisely right.

Her visit to the owlery was unnoticed, just the way she wanted, and her spells were carefully cast. It would be perfect. She could not wait to see the result of her hard labor.

Sitting at the Slytherin table, Silvia leisurely watched the happenings of her cousin's House. A few looked quite pale, due to the impending Quidditch game later that day. Others seemed to become more alive at the prospect, her cousin being one of them.

But her target looked to be neither, listening with half an ear to the ramblings of her housemates. Silvia checked her watch one last time before tearing apart a roll that remained on her plate. She popped a piece into her mouth to hide her anticipatory smile.

Evan noticed. He raised an eyebrow at the navy-haired girl next to him. "What're you planning, love?" he asked, leaning close so that his breath brushed against her ear lobe.

With a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous tilt to her lips, she leaned against his side. "You'll see."

No sooner had she said that had expectant eyes watched the graceful arch of several swirling birds descending from the ceiling. Silvia's grey eyes tracked their movement critically, watching as the birds flew down to the Gryffindor table.

The hand of one particular red-headed girl reached for the burden her owl carried. She was puzzled to find a letter along with her copy of the Daily Prophet. Settling the Prophet aside for the moment, she reached for the letter, her finger sliding under the seal.

At the same moment that the Head Girl was opening her letter, the Housemate next to her was puzzling over her own letter. The only thing written on Aurelia's note was, 'You'll need this'. Confused, she wondered what good the parchment was going to do to her.

No sooner had she completed the thought had it turned into a large, green umbrella that covered her completely, shielding her from the rest of the table. Therefore she didn't get the chance to see what made her Housemate, and best friend, shriek holy hell.

Struggling out from under the surprisingly accommodating umbrella, she found half of her friends to be in some degree of wetness, originating from a thoroughly soaked Lily. Her friends' face had turned a bright shade of red that matched her hair closely.

"COLTON!" she screeched, whirling from her standing position to look over at the Slytherin table.

The entire length of the table was either trying to hold in their laughter or openly expressing it. One in particular, was smirking in a confident, outright manner. From across the room, Silvia wiggled her fingers in greeting. Her grey eyes watched as the outraged Head Girl marched out of the Great Hall.

"Oh, you're in for it now, Via," Evan said nonchalantly from beside her.

"That's what I was going for, love," she replied, going back to her breakfast with a satisfied smirk on her lips.

- - - - -

Later that day, the stands of the pitch were filled to the brim with students and teachers. Quidditch was the most popular sport in the wizarding world since the eighteenth century and at Hogwarts, it was four times that in popularity. There was no such thing as a simple remark about the game; it had to elaborate into a full-fledged debate on the topic, often times interrupting lessons. Some teachers even joined in, especially when the festivities were just starting in November.

Aurelia had waited for Lily at the bottom of the stands since she had been required to change her robes and toss her old ones in the laundry. Lia couldn't believe—well, yes she could—that Silvia would do that to the Head Girl. She would have proceeded to confront her cousin about it, but the Great Hall just wasn't the place for public displays of affection. Especially because Professor Flitwick walked by the moment she'd made to get up. She cursed her teachers for having such good timing.

They went up the stairs together and found Emily and Remus sitting on one of the benches, saving the seats. They looked uncomfortable for some reason, but Aurelia passed it off as being crowd-crushed. Sirius waded his way through the crowd of screaming Gryffindors to get to them, Peter following him close behind.

Aurelia spotted James pass by their stand and jumped up, waving vigorously. She tried whistling, but only air came out. Frustrated, she tried a second time, but this time her mouth only produced spit. Sirius came up behind her and put two fingers into his mouth, cat calling the intended Seeker. James waved a fist in the air at him and sped off to meet the two teams in the middle of the field.

"I covet your whistling abilities," said Aurelia with a glare.

"Green monster of envy chiming in there, Lia?" Sirius smirked and then looked down to see if the start of the game was visible from where they stood. No such luck. If they had gotten there twenty minutes earlier, it wouldn't have made a difference, because the students four rows down couldn't see a thing either. Deciding it wasn't worth his time, Sirius turned on her, gripping his girlfriend's sides. "I like it when you're angry."

"And I like it when you shut up," she retaliated, grasping his hands in hers and pushing them off, "and let me watch my Quidditch."

"Insufferable," he muttered lazily, turning away and casting a forlorn look into the crowd. His eyebrows shot up as he gazed across the field and Aurelia looked at him from the side, trying to be inconspicuous. Her eyes darted to the direction he was looking toward. A group of Hufflepuff girls were staring at her boyfriend from across the field like he was some sort of mesmerizing god, proof that he had just as many giggling girly gits fawning over him as before they'd started dating. She watched Sirius carefully as he waved to the Hufflepuffs and then she watched as they all seemed to swoon, waving back shyly. He produced a brilliant, toothy grin. They looked about ready to melt into the stands. She wished they would.

"Seer," Aurelia said, pouting her lip. He looked down at her and gave her a 'what now' look. She brought him closer and whispered in his ear, "I'm really cold."

"So now that I'm useful you want me," said Sirius, wrapping his arms around her chest. "Unjustified."

"I'm still cold," she said. "Maybe you should come a little closer."

Sirius moved into her curve and wrapped his arm around her neck. "Like this?"

"Bit closer. Closer—Ah! Sirius!" Aurelia felt his hands rubbing against her sweater as they eagerly explored the curves of her torso.

"What?" he asked innocently. "Trying to keep you warm, sweetheart. Creating friction."

"Lying bastard," she said, smirking.

"You wouldn't love me any other way."

Sirius closed his mouth over hers and they kissed like they would in a broom closet when they knew a teacher was passing by. Aurelia opened her eyes for a few seconds to survey the girls across the stadium now, and there was hatred on each and every one's face. She smirked in a satisfied sort of way and closed her eyes to enjoy her boyfriend's hot kiss.

Who was the green monster of envy's bitch now?

- - - - -

Walking towards the Quidditch pitch, Silvia noticed a particular blonde head leaning near one of the stands, a piece of parchment in her hands. Taking care to make her steps as light and silent as possible, she approached the blonde from behind. When she was sufficiently close to her target, she took a deep calming breath to clear her head. Then she pounced.

Rather, it was more of a tackle.

Both girls ended up on the ground, Silvia's arms wrapped tightly around the lithe form of her Housemate, who was struggling to get out from under her. When the blonde finally managed to get free, she stood and brushed stray pieces of grass from her uniform.

"What was that for, Via?" she questioned, amused and irritated at the same time.

"I was having Ivie pangs! I missed you!" Silvia said in a childish voice, complete with full smile and tilted head.

Ivie scoffed and reached to retrieve her parchment that lay discarded on the ground. "If you didn't notice, I was engaged in something before you came. Some Ivie pangs of my own." She motioned towards the parchment in her hand.

Silvia moved closer to her friend to glance over her shoulder briefly. The messy scrawl there was familiar. "My pangs are more painful though," she said, tousling the blonde's hair affectionately.

Scowling, Ivie set to fixing her hair. "Aren't they always?"

Ignoring that comment, Silvia went to lean against one of the supports of the stands. "How's your brother doing?"

"As well as can be expected when he's so far from home. He's met someone, apparently, that the family won't approve of."

"How about you tell me about this dream girl while we find a seat?" Silvia threw an arm around Ivie's shoulder and led her up the stairs.

- - - - -

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, HENDERSON? GUDGEON'S GOT THE BALL, YOU IDIOT! GUARD HIM!"

Sirius, Remus and Peter looked at each other and turned back to stare at the screaming Aurelia, waving her hands in dramatic gesticulations as she actively spectated. There were, of course, several other students taking an active roll in the coaching of the game, but none had prominence over the Gryffindor girl's vocals. Lily was actually shielding her face in an attempt to hide the fact that she was friends with the crazed Quidditch fan.

"Is it just me or is she really hot right now?" Sirius muttered.

"Not just you," mumbled Remus and Peter in unison.

Had anyone been looking, they would have seen a very disgruntled and jealous expression on Emily's face.

Aurelia's flaming eyes watched James as he sped in front of their stand with a wink, and they lightened into a calm grey. She smiled at him. This was it. She looked behind her, but Lily's hands were still covering her face. It was better that way, though.

This was going to be immensely enjoyable.

Sirius saw the signal and smirked. Apparently, he figured he should distract said Head Girl anyway, just in case she did happen to glance up before James was ready.

"Lily, you feeling all right?" he asked, draping an arm around her shoulder. "Not cold, are you?"

Quickly shoving his arm away, she replied with, "You do not amuse, Get-Any-You-Can Black."

Aurelia smiled so big she forgot to violently direct oral abuse at the Gryffindor Keeper's missed block. She quickly made up for this with a throw of her hands, almost knocking the boy next to her unconscious. "WHAT WAS THAT, YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A QUIDDITCH PLAYER?" She glanced up and sure enough, there sat James on his broom, racing about the sky, seeming to write into the air with his wand. "The hell—what's James doing?"

They all looked up and she smiled at her success.

"And Sorick's got the ball now. Vence is—what's that Potter's up to?"

Thanks to the brilliantly slow announcer, everyone was staring up at James now, eyes wide in attempts to discern what exactly he was doing. Many undoubtedly thought he was trying to distract everyone while the Gryffindors violated conduct in order to retrieve the Quaffle. At least the Ravenclaws did, and that was likely why all blue-coated fans were still staring avidly at the rest of the Quidditch pitch. It didn't matter much, because the only eyes that needed to look up were already doing so with great interest. Aurelia turned around when she heard a small gasp behind her, smiling broadly with her other previously-informed comrades.

Lily's green eyes were staring above her at the sparkling red words written in the sky.

LILY EVANS, WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?

Almost no one realized that James was speeding towards their stand until his feet were dangling inches above the spectator's heads. _Then_ they ducked. James looked down at his victim expectantly.

"All right, Evans?" he said, a wide smirk on his face.

Lily stood up, her cheeks reddened. She looked as though she were about to scream at a third year for vandalizing the lavatory walls. "Potter, you egotistical little—YES!"

James looked mildly surprised before jumping off his broom onto the bench below him that had quickly cleared of students. A path was made for him so he could jump up the few benches to get to his new girlfriend. Lily braced herself when he was a foot away, and she was smart to do so, because James caught her in his arms, wrapping his hands around her back. Applause broke out from the Gryffindor stands when they were wrapped up in a zealous kiss.

"About bloody time!" Sirius yelled at them.

They both smiled mid-kiss, and then continued.

"BEEVERY'S SEEN THE SNITCH!" shouted the announcer and every single head turned to watch the Ravenclaw Seeker speeding across the pitch.

"Shit!" James yelled. He jumped down onto a lower bench, then turned around and wrapped a hand around Lily's neck, bringing her lips into his. He smirked at her surprised and dazed expression, then ran down the rest of the benches, jumped onto his broom and flew off to catch up with Beevery.

- - - - -

"What the hell is going on?" Silvia snapped, watching as the Gryffindor Seeker broke away from the game and flew towards the stands.

"Did you miss the sky writing, Via?" Elizabeth asked from behind her, her arms reaching around to hug her friend.

"Wha—Oh."

From her right side, Snape had gone still at the message in the sky. His beady little eyes watched as Potter flew towards the stands. Watched as a red-headed girl stood up to approach him. Watched as Potter leaned in, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

Snape stopped breathing.

He stopped breathing so much that he practically fainted.

And fell over.

"What the—Oh! Ew! KEEP IT TO THE TOWER, POTTER! WE DON'T NEED TO WITNESS YOUR STUPID LOVE LIFE!" Silvia cried before burying her head in the shoulder of the only-too-obliging Evan Rosier. After a few moments of relative cheering, she lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Is it over?"

"Think so, since Potter let go of Evans in a hurry. Oh, he's gotten the Snitch," Evan leisurely commentated, a hand running through the hair of his girlfriend.

"Bloody hell. He attacks Evans and catches the Snitch. What the hell was Beevery doing while he watched? Wanking? What an idiot," she sighed, irritated that Gryffindor had won again. Noticing open air to her right, she turned to see Snape, who had fallen over the back of the bench. He looked decidedly pale. "All right there, Severus?"

- - - - -

Every several minutes of Transfiguration class the next day was interrupted by a blunt awareness of deprivation. Aurelia felt the edges of her blouse being lifted up. Every time this happened, she simply pulled it back down and continued to study.

Perhaps it was the safety of the classroom that Aurelia had savored in her first years at school, but that precedent seemed to be fading with each passing year. Now, anything could happen. Teachers might allow it to happen once and prohibit it from ever happening again, but what did that do for the first victim?

So, Aurelia had some options. She could grit her teeth and bare it, retaliate with force or walk away. Lia was levelheaded and did not easily lose control of her emotions. Naturally, she chose the first. But after awhile, she was fed up with the action and turned around, grabbing the back of her blouse and saying, a little too loudly, "Are you _quite_ finished?"

Sirius sat back in his chair, which was only touching the ground with two legs, and grinned, wand in the hand at his side. "Oh, but the view from back here—" He held up his hands to form a box with his fingers directed at the back of Lia's chair. "Priceless."

"Is there a problem here, Miss Colton?" asked McGonagall, who had just arrived at the side of Aurelia's desk, adorning an expression of severe irritation.

"None at all, Professor," she lied. "I was just asking Potter and Black if they'd finished their essays yet."

"Another student's work does not concern you, Miss Colton. I'm sure Potter and Black have managed to scrape up a sizable amount. You, however, look to be having a bit of trouble concentrating."

"Got that right," Aurelia mumbled as McGonagall walked away. Turning back around, she said, much quieter than before, "Sirius, I'm studying. If you want to take off my shirt, I'll be in the Common Room later." With that, she turned in her seat and continued her essay.

"And so will I," Gudgeon said, eyes wide. All the boys close enough to hear her retort looked from the back of Aurelia's head to Sirius and shot him jealous glares, which made his grin widen. The Gryffindor boys all went into a whispered frenzy of agreement with Gudgeon and a few Hufflepuffs groaned about how they wished they were in Gryffindor.

- - - - -

Aurelia jumped over the back of the couch and slid into the space between the cushion and Sirius' strewn-out body. She played with his hair subconsciously while she addressed Lily about her continued flying lessons, the last of which had been a fiasco of repeated falling, crashing and, surprisingly, cursing.

"No," she replied simply, and laid her head back to rest on James' chest. He was sitting on the arm of the chair and very nearly falling off to begin with, but now that he was supporting Lily, it made the feat even more amusing to watch.

Lia was too tired to argue, so she just pouted into Sirius' back. He bumped her with his arse and she gave a little grunt. "Do you mind? I'm trying to be snuggly," she murmured.

He turned his head slightly and smirked. "And you're doing a lovely job. I, on the other hand, am not, therefore I can do whatever I please."

"Point and match," she mumbled into his oxford, closing her eyes, intent on drifting off to sleep.

"I," James said pointedly, making Lia's eyes pop open again, "have something I need to tell you, Lily."

It wasn't even a question of what the blabbermouth was going to say, but a question of why he was going to say it now. "James…" Sirius said in a warning tone.

"I've asked everyone," he replied, glancing at Aurelia's panic-stricken and Sirius' critical faces. "Which is more than Moony can say."

Aurelia snorted, then hauled herself up to the closest thing she could get to a sitting position. Lily looked a little anxious, but Aurelia gave her a nod to reassure her.

"Lily," James said, placing a gentle hand on the back of her neck as he spoke, "we aren't exactly ordinary wizards."

"Well, that's been established," said Lily, rolling her eyes, but when she saw the expression on all three of their faces, she shut her mouth and listened…and didn't like what she heard. Not in the slightest.

"How can you be so calm?" Lily screeched in a high-pitched whisper the night proceeding as the two girls sat in the Common Room wrapped in blankets next to the fire.

Aurelia showed her a half smile, but couldn't think of any way to reply. She was anything but calm on these nights. Every full moon she hugged her pillow to permanent indentation, but she had to show Lily how easy it was so that her friend might take it better than she had. Lily was stronger and could handle this.

"Lil," said Aurelia in a soothing but determined voice. "I've been here, waiting by the fire, every full moon night since the middle of fifth year. I know what you're thinking and I understand how you're feeling, but you have to know that the boys, however arrogant and stupid, would never let Remus do anything he shouldn't. Rem's calmer around animals, so you have nothing to worry about. They've been doing this for a long time."

"You've know since fifth year?" she said, aghast. Aurelia nodded sheepishly. "And you didn't tell me?"

"It's not that I didn't trust you with it. We haven't even told Emily, but mostly because she would've gotten too upset by it. And Remus obviously didn't want to give her a reason to break up. I just figured they wouldn't want you to know—"

"James wouldn't want me to know."

"Well, there's that…and you're very…lawful. I mean, they thought you might…you know…because they aren't registered…"

Lily looked like a flobberworm on the verge of dissection. "They thought I'd tell on them?"

Aurelia slowly nodded her head.

"Now I'm not worried about them, the sorry bastards."

"Lily!" Aurelia said, surprised by her bluntness.

"Well, they are! How dare they. I hope Remus gives Potter a good claw to the face."

Aurelia frowned and kept her eyes downcast as she said, "He's already tried that one."

Lily inhaled sharply and laid back on her pillow, hugging the quilt to her chest. It would be another long, silent night. Lia didn't mind, though.

She was used to it.

- - - - -

"What are we even here for, Lia?" Emily asked, annoyance in her tone.

Aurelia shushed her and focused back on the intended targets. They were like wild boars flocking to a watering hole. The only difference was that the watering hole was a pile of unused dungbombs in the second floor corridor. Her plan was somewhat lame, she admitted, but that was only because the real brains of Gryffindor were not involved or, in Emily's case, had no idea what was going on.

"Em, do you trust me?" Lia asked, so distracted by the flood of green thirty feet away that she didn't sound like she was talking to anyone but herself.

"I…Lia, really, I need to know what this is about," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. She hadn't peeked around the corner yet, and Aurelia wouldn't allow her that much information. If Emily knew what they were about to pull off, she would flee the scene.

And it was going to be one _glorious_ firework show to behold.

It was not all fun and games, though. After several weeks of silence about the war going on, people were starting to feel as if it were too distant for them to even be apart of. Things changed when a sixth year Hufflepuff was sent to St. Mungo's Hospital because of his parents. The Dark Mark had been placed over his house. Once he'd packed a bag to bring with him to the hospital, he walked down the stairs wide-eyed in terror. No one, not even the Slytherins, said a word to him on his way out.

The realization that the war was still close to home had hit Hogwarts hard, and many of the students felt more melancholy than ever.

Accidents occurred frequently, most of all in Defense lessons. Students were too nervous to concentrate. Some asked their parents to take them out of school; some parents forced their children to return home. The closeness was comforting to many a worried parent, even if Hogwarts was the safest place for their children to be.

The Potters doted on their son more than anything in the world and it was surprising to all that they did not pack up his bag for him. They asked him in a letter if he would be all right at Hogwarts, and naturally his answer was yes.

Some half-blood students were asked to leave when another, harsher attack was staged, and the school's numbers dwindled. Remus considered going home as not to worry his codling parents, but found that his friends, as well as his studies, needed him more.

Aurelia was an exception to the fanfare of parental concern. Of course her father knew the war was taking a turn for the worse, but apparently he did not see fit for her to leave school in the middle of the term. In fact, she hadn't heard from him at all since September, though she had sent letters back home at the end of every month, perhaps in some hope that he would return one.

It was easier for her to cope with this since Sirius neither received any letters from home nor cared to write any. Their situations were quite different, since Sirius no longer lived with his family, but it was nice to have someone to relate to. They were outcasts by their families, so it was no surprise they drew closer emotionally, as well as physically.

The war was not the only thing bringing students together, though. After two weeks of depression, things got a little stirred up on the edges of scarlet and green banners. The pranks that had started with four girls and a dead cat had escalated to the entire seventh year. It was every House for itself, and the games began with a single Bat-Boogy Hex. It was chaos from there on in, and students from seventh year had the worst trouble getting out of their Common Rooms in the morning.

The greatness of the prank no longer mattered. It was the amount of pranks one could fit into each day. Teachers couldn't control it. Students couldn't bare it. And after awhile, even the pranksters were slimed, feathered and grilled medium-well.

There was no one in seventh year who hadn't been the victim of a hoax, big or small. Unfortunately, Aurelia had been on the receiving end of a particularly nasty hex for which she had needed to ask Madam Pomfrey for instruction on how to re-grow eyebrows.

Belching Powder was slipped into mass amounts of pumpkin juice. Mustaches were regularly drawn onto portraits (the Fat Lady was quite distressed and would let no one in Gryffindor Tower for an entire day as a result of that brilliant scheme). Even the Valentine Hogsmeade weekend turned into a fiasco when Madam Rosmerta's Butterbeer was changed into a gooey substance that had to be eaten, and Puddifoot's was sabotaged with crazed pink pixies. The scene was magnificent and everyone had a good laugh when Madam Puddifoot dragged all four Marauders out into the street by the ears.

It seemed as though the seventh years were invincible when it came to concealing the identities of the creators of each attack, so the Heads made a collective decision to give detention to any seventh year within a corridor's walk of the latest prank, only excluding the victim, in hopes that it would cause a halt to the tomfoolery. They were wrong of course, and the punishments only made the battle more heated. Now it was their mission to get as many detentions for their opposing Houses as they possibly could. Detention rooms were overflowing with seventh year students every day. It was a wonder the teachers still opposed mass expulsion.

"I'm getting really tired of this," Aurelia told Sirius as she wiped his back with a wet cloth. The original prank had been used in their third year, and a certain Slytherin had wanted revenge for it ever since. Now the notorious prankster, Sirius Black, had been hit from behind with a box of toothpicks. Aurelia had requested to take them out, since he was having such a hard time with it himself. It wasn't uncommon for Sirius to be a main target for vicious pranks; he was one to be jealous of. Usually he was able to elude them since they were aimed by angry boys with shaky hands. Snape, she had to admit, had outwitted him. "Come Sunday, I'll be snogging ashes."

"Ow!" he said, turning around to scowl at her. "Watch where you're dabbing that thing, will you?"

She turned back his head manually and continued to wipe up the blood of his many small wounds. "You're just bitter because Severus got the better of you."

"I am_ not_ bitter," Sirius muttered through clenched teeth.

Catching the tone, she attempted to lighten the blow. "He hexed you from behind. I won't blame you for being bitter about it." For emphasis, she mumbled, "Hexed you while your back was turned. Pathetic."

"Bloody coward." He paused a moment like he did when we was about to change the subject completely due to one of the random thoughts that passed through his head. "Hey, why is it that girl's can come up to the boy's dorms but we can't go up to the girl's?"

"You know why, Sirius," she said. She had made a quick inspection of the boy's dormitories. They were very messy; clothes and books and a few things that looked a lot like Bundimun were scattered about the floors. Sirius had led her past a room full of sixth year boys dressing, and they weren't the least bit shy of her intrusion. The one that had nothing on but boxers gave her a brave wink—brave because they'd all seen Sirius walking past the doorway before her. She'd smiled at them and moved on after a protective-looking boyfriend. "Girls are a lot more trustworthy when it comes to matters of the opposite sex."

Pushing a little too hard on his punctured skin, she heard Sirius yelp. He turned around to glare, but instead met her lips. His grey eyes sparkled as she maneuvered around him to straddle his thighs. She pushed his bare chest so that he moved up against the bedpost and he grunted as his back hit the wood. She felt a lurch in her stomach as he moved his hand up her skirt and she grabbed his tongue in between her teeth to distract her from the weird sensation it created.

"Padfoot, did Snivellus really—?" James' question was silenced when he saw who was attached to his bare-chested best mate's mouth. Sirius' gaze traveled to the doorway where James stood and he waved him out. For a moment more James didn't move, and then, having an abrupt coughing fit, turned to leave, shutting the door on his way out.

They stared at each other as a bolt of heat lightning flashed across the sky from the window, their mouths enclosed around familiar counterparts, and Sirius leaned forward to trap Aurelia between the barriers that were his arms. He gave her a raised eyebrow in question after he saw her inhale a shaky breath beneath him. She shook it off and nodded her head slowly up and down on the bed sheets. He smiled—surprisingly not a grin—as he waved his wand to shut his four poster's curtains.

- - - - -

Sitting up in the Astronomy Tower, Silvia let the breeze tease the tendrils of her loose hair. Her eyes raked over the letter she had gotten hours ago from Bellatrix. A letter she had been waiting for for a very long time.

_Via, _

_How've you been? I know we haven't talked in awhile; I've been busy, wedding plans and all. But I feel like I haven't heard anything from you in forever. What has happened with my favorite little Slytherin troublemaker? Is the Common Room still in one piece? Have you killed Potter yet? Narcissa sends her love. Oh, and I'm supposed to tell you that… _

"Appareo," she muttered, watching words, previously hidden, appear on the parchment. The other meaningless dribble disappeared, as if knowing it was unimportant to the reader and the writer.

_I mentioned that I might have found something that would suit your tastes and that I would determine whether it was a farce or not. It's not. It's real. And it's wonderful. The man behind it is brilliant and his ideas seem to resonate with your own. I've told him about you, and he said he would be interested in finding out more about you. Just know, he values actions more than words. _

_Love, Bella _

Somewhat satisfied, she shifted to glance at the second piece of parchment in her hand. The first was worth nothing without this one.

_Miss Colton, _

_I've found the man you were looking for. He was surprisingly easy to find, which, in light of the Muggle authorities lack of progress, is disheartening. I'm glad that I could help you in finding the monster that did something to such a wonderful woman… _

She didn't much care what else the wizard detective had to say. She only cared that he had found the man that had murdered her Aunt Maggie, the only woman who was truly a mother to her throughout her childhood and the woman who meant the world to Aurelia. Aurelia, who meant the world to Silvia. And some stupid Muggle had just decided to kill her because he wanted her money. With one pathetic thought in his miniscule brain, he ended the life of someone who was important to people. Someone who meant more to some than that Muggle could ever understand.

Silvia wanted him to pay.

She wanted him to scream.

And now that she knew where she could find him, she could kill two birds with one stone. She could pay him back for the damage he did to her family, and she could prove her worth to a potential ally. She'd never been hesitant when it came to proving her words with actions.

She wouldn't be again.

The parchment crumpled in her hand as anger flooded her veins. She had waited years for this opportunity, and she didn't intend to let it just pass her by. A swift flick of her wand had bluebell flames cradled in the palm of her hand, feeling like nothing more than a warm breeze. She let the flames engulf her palm, burning a path up her fingers and into the parchment.

It fell to ash within her palm.

Her gaze stayed transfixed on the blue flames within her hand. Their glistening quality reminded her of what the sky looked like when it rained. And the first time she had been taught this spell by her aunt when the whole family had gone on a camping trip. It was before she had a wand.

She hadn't liked the darkness then.

Things had changed.

Now, the darkness was her friend. People showed who they really were in the dark—no lights to show their faults and flaws. There was clarity in the dark of night that wasn't present in the daylight. In daylight it was all smiles and fake sentiments.

Nothing was real in the daylight.

The darkness showed a person for whom they truly were, and Silvia reveled in that. She smirked sharply, her hand closing around the flames, watching them extinguish between the ash and her fingers. The reflection of the fire in her eyes gave them an eerie light.

"Silvia? You up here? Lizzie said you might be," Tidra said, the light of her wand preceding her footsteps.

"I'm here, Ti. You need something?" Silvia said from her position against the wall.

"Yeah, there's this thing going on with the first years and…"

Silvia didn't bother listening; she just stood up from her seat and casually let the ashes fall from her hand over the tower edge. The wind caught them and carried them away. "Let's go see what's bothering the little kids, hmm?"

She left the tower with her Housemate, her mind still thinking back to the contents of her letters and her plans for the future. That light never truly left her eyes thereafter.

- - - - -

Aurelia felt the soft sheets and curled into them. They felt so nice against her bare skin, and she wanted to lay there…_bare skin?_ Her eyes popped open at once, staring at the top of a four-poster she was not well acquainted with. She heaved a silent breath and cautiously looked to her right, hoping against hope that somehow she had just dreamed it all. Sirius' naked form was moving the sheets slowly up and down with his breathing. Aurelia quickly looked away and hit both palms to her forehead.

Trying not to wake her sleeping boyfriend, she lifted the covers off her and collected the clothes that were crumpled at the end of the bed. She had to pick hers out of Sirius' since they had mingled together after they'd…

Her knickers were nowhere to be found. She searched everywhere she could without knocking Sirius off the bed, so she decided to go without until she got back to her dorm.

She carefully lifted the side curtain of the four-poster so she wouldn't wake any of the other boys. One toe to the cold, wooden floor and she just couldn't help herself. She threw open the curtain and smacked Sirius upside the head. He groaned loudly and turned around with a sleepy and confused look.

"I either did something really wrong, or really right," he mumbled into the side of his pillow.

Aurelia narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. She whispered, "This is not the time for witty remarks."

Sirius sat up, the sheets rolling down his front just enough to cover his unmentionables. He looked at her, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. He smiled. "Hey."

"Hey?" she said. "Is that all you have to say? Sirius…we just… we…together…and…didn't we?"

Sirius grabbed her shoulders because by now they were shaking. "No, Lia," he said. "You just crawled out of my four-poster naked because last night you lost your clothes and I was feeling hospitable." They stared at each other for a moment before Sirius eyes wandered off and he said, "Actually, that is kind of what happened."

Aurelia sat back on the bed, making the mattress beneath creek. At least she was out of reach of his hands. "I can't believe we had…we had…"

"Sex?" James' voice carried across the room. They both turned to see him standing on his bed, supporting himself with one of his bedposts. Aurelia's entire face went scarlet, but the couple both glared at him for intruding.

"It was brilliant," Sirius said, turning back to his girlfriend with a smirk.

"That's not the point."

A yawning Remus was sitting up in his bed when he heard James shouting and then realized what was going on upon spotting the blushing face of Aurelia across the room. He looked from side to side for something to do with himself. Peter, on the other hand, was dazedly glaring at the couple, probably for causing James' unappreciated wake-up call.

"This is insane," James said, realizing the word was overused in his vocabulary. "You guys really—?"

"Yep."

"No."

Sirius had on a wide grin that Aurelia would have liked to smack off his face. "She's dazed and confused."

"In denial? Was he that bad, Lia?" asked James, leering.

"Go to hell, Prongs!"

Aurelia held her hands to the sides of her head and shook it. She felt Sirius' hands on her own, but not even that could cause the movement to cease. That was his excuse for kissing her. It was forceful and it hurt, but it knocked her back to her senses and when she opened her eyes, things were a little out of focus.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Seer," she said, giving him a half smile. "It's not…it's not pieced together yet, alright? It wasn't you. In fact, it was amazing. It wasn't even the fact that I started it…"

"LIA started it?" James called out, incredulous.

"It's just that…we did it. And I'd really rather not anyone else know about it, okay?"

Sirius looked indignant. "What do you take me for? You think I'll go bragging to all my friends…Lia, they already know."

Aurelia looked around the room at the three boys and sighed. "It doesn't leave this room."

"Not a word," James agreed. Remus and Peter chimed in afterwards with similar phrases. Aurelia smiled at them and knew they wouldn't tell a soul. Of course, that wouldn't stop her from telling a few of her own closest friends, but she wanted it no further than that.

It wasn't embarrassment. No, no. Who in their right mind would be embarrassed by having sex with Sirius Black? It wasn't even that she was embarrassed by 'losing it' to the most notorious male in Hogwarts either. It was her father. She knew that if her father found out, he would be just as unforgiving as Romey had been for her continued friendship with Sirius. It hadn't taken her brother two seconds to spit out a curse about her camaraderie with a Black and her father would be ten times worse. He probably wouldn't even give her a chance to explain that he was a blood traitor. He probably wouldn't care. She would be in enormous trouble if he ever found out. She planned for that never to happen, just as she had strategically planned the concealment of their relationship from him since last year. The only way to ensure he didn't catch wind of this incident was to keep it a complete secret.

She trusted them all enough to be sure the word wouldn't get out, and in turn that the word wouldn't get back to her father.

- - - - -

At breakfast that morning something didn't sit right with a certain navy-haired Slytherin. She had taken to watching her cousin as of late, making sure that despite their lack of communication, nothing dire had happened to her.

Having known Aurelia her whole life, she was privy to the subtle nuances in her cousin's demeanor. For instance, the fact that although the Gryffindor plastered a smile on her face before her friends, her eyes didn't show any happiness. In fact, her eyes kept glancing between her friends, watching their conversations with Housemates outside the close knit group. And she would flinch just barely whenever Black put his arm around her or made a motion to touch her. Her skin, too, seemed paler than normal.

Frankly, to the close observer, she looked terrified.

That was something Silvia wouldn't stand for.

Watching a little more carefully, she noticed that Aurelia didn't flinch when anyone else touched her, only Black. The loving couple was barely even affectionate that morning—it was like a precedent was being broken. She was even avoiding meeting his eyes. Even angry, Aurelia would still defiantly meet someone's eyes.

Which meant that Black must have done something, or they must have done something together. And due to the dislike her extended family had for those associated with more unsavory aspects of magic, she figured Black wasn't well received at the Colton home. In fact, Silvia would wager her uncle knew nothing of him.

Which meant they had done something that would anger her uncle, and when her uncle got angry he tended to take it out on his daughter. And Aurelia was scared of how her father would react. Therefore, she concluded, they had done something irreversible.

Her eyes widened with the realization.

"Bloody hell!" she hissed viciously as she watched her cousin. She needed to know whether her suspicions were true or not. The only way to know for sure was to confront one of them. Ordinarily Aurelia would have been easiest, but she found she wanted to hurt Black more than a little at that point in time.

A slow smile crossed her face as a plan developed.

Black would never touch her cousin again.

- - - - -

Waiting inside one of the many secret passageways might have been the only way Silvia had thought of for her plan to work, but she never considered how boring it was. It seemed like ages before someone swept aside the tapestry that lead into the passageway; a passageway that was frequented by none other than Sirius Black.

"Fancy meeting you here, Black," she drawled, leaning against the wall, letting the light from his wand wash over her.

He stopped, looked at her and then glared. "Colton. What're you doing in here? If you're waiting for me, I'm happy to report I'm already taken."

"In fact, I _am_ waiting for you, Black._ Langlock! Locomotor Mortis!_" she said, pointing her wand as him, watching as his legs locked together and his mouth shut.

His eyes narrowed further.

"You see, I noticed something in my dear cousin this morning—something troubling. And it all seemed to stem back to you. So by my count the only thing you could have done to bugger her up that badly is to sleep with her. Am I right?"

His eyes widened before he schooled his features, but it was all the confirmation that she needed.

"I thought so," she said, moving slightly closer to Sirius. "Thing is, my uncle won't like that at all. Not just because you slept with her, but because a _Black_ slept with her. Naturally, she wants to make sure no one knows."

A grin stretched across her face. "What do you suppose she'll do when she finds out that everyone does? Who do you suppose she'll blame? Let's find out, shall we? _Confundo!_"

- - - - -

Sirius walked down the corridor, not quite sure what he was doing there. Wasn't there someplace he was supposed to be? Then it hit him—Potions! He was supposed to be in Potions. Bugger, he'd be getting detention for this. Then Aurelia would be sure to ream him out for it.

Running down the hall, he screeched to a halt once he reached the Potions door. He took one breath before opening the door confidently.

"Ah, Mr. Black, how nice of you to join us."

"Apologies, Professor, I had to help a first year on my way here. You know how they are, getting lost every two minutes. And then theycry." He shrugged his shoulders in a companionable manner.

It didn't fool Slughorn in the slightest.

"Yes, well, as admirable as that may be, you can explain it fully to Professor McGonagall after class. Please take your seat now."

Slughorn turned back toward the board and proceeded to explain the importance of monkshood in potions.

As he slid into his seat next to James, Sirius looked over at Aurelia, something tugging on his brain as he did so. He felt like he needed to say something. Something important. But he just couldn't remember what.

"Where're you at, mate? Not doing anything wicked without me, I hope," James whispered from beside him, grinning.

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

James gave him one worried glance before copying down what Slughorn wrote in the front.

- - - - -

Heading out from the dungeons, Sirius realized he still had to go to McGonagall's office to receive what he suspected would be another detention. "Hang on, mates, I've got to visit the Lion Lady."

"Maybe you should get to class on time, Padfoot," Remus mused from the other side of James as he flipped through a new book he had.

"Stuff it, Moony," Sirius grumbled before waving them off and heading in the opposite direction. Halfway there he found himself face to face with someone he rather wanted to pummel. Figuring his detention would be lonely, he sought after another.

"Hey there, Tremming. I've got a question for you: are you still paying girls to date you, or has your mum found a suitable second cousin?" Sirius drawled, leaning casually against a wall, twirling his wand through his fingers leisurely.

Tremming's face turned scarlet. "It's a wonder your mum ever got anyone to marry her. Do you think she had to Imperio your father to do it?" He smirked, his face returning to it's normal shade, but his fingers clenched his wand.

"We could always ask yours," he said casually. "But blimey, I forgot, that old besom didn't finish up school, did she? Likely whored herself out, and your dad married out of pity for you. So you can't blame yourself, Trm. Must be hereditary."

The fingers of one hand flexing in preparation to hit the Ravenclaw for whatever his next comeback might be.

Tremming smirked. "You know, I never had to pay Aurelia for anything. She gives it up for free—or didn't you know?"

"You dirty liar," Sirius growled. "She hadn't even given it up until last night!" Realizing what he had just said, Sirius shut his mouth quickly, yet he couldn't stop the stream of curses that flowed from his mouth.

For the first time in his life, Sirius fled from a fight. He even forgot to threaten Tremming into keeping his mouth shut. He forgot everything.

- - - - -

Aurelia splashed her face with cold water from the sink, smiling into the mirror before her, a happy reflection staring back. She had had a good day so far, and despite the interaction with an unpleasant Slytherin, she had remained cheery all morning. She had no reason not to be, really. She was ensured that no one would tell anyone about anything, so she wasn't worried. Not even a little.

"Did you hear about Colton?"

Quickly, she ducked into one of the stalls as two familiar Slytherins paraded into the bathroom. They never called Silvia "Colton"; that was Lia's unoriginal nickname. So the gossip had to have been about her. She wanted—needed, more like—to know what it was. Her heart was beating fast as she watched through the door's crack. They were gazing fondly at their reflections in the mirror.

"Evan said Black let it slip when he was getting into it with Tremming."

"What about her?" asked the little Tidra bitch who'd broken her trunk at King's Cross. "Wait…oh Merlin, don't tell me!"

"Oh yes," said Elizabeth mischievously. "Can you imagine? Well I guess I can. Heart-breaker Black and Goody-two-shoes Colton. I mean how easy _does_ one have to be to get Black in bed—?"

Aurelia flung open the stall door and aimed her wand at the little one, sending a blinding curse her way, then she ran at Elizabeth, her fist colliding with the girl's face. They both screamed, but Aurelia was already out of the bathroom and down the hall, wiping the blood onto her black robes.

She didn't much care anymore. She was dead as it was. School wasn't necessary.

Marching her way to the Gryffindor Tower, there were much too many people staring at her with some emotion she had never seen before, but she wasn't paying them attention.

Stepping into the Common Room, she again was bombarded by looks of that nameless emotion, but she only had enough line of sight to pierce the boy lazily sulking on the couch. They spotted each other and stared unblinkingly until Aurelia's eyes teared up. Not from sadness—no—but because she was unaccustomed to keeping her eyes open for so long.

The room had faded into silence and she only realized this because of how loud she sounded when she asked Sirius if they could talk. Everyone seemed surprised at how calm her voice was, even herself. As Sirius stood up, James called out, "Move it along. Nothing to see here."

Lily looked supportive, but Aurelia tried not to notice.

They entered the scene of the crime and Aurelia supported herself against the windowsill, staring at him. He sat on his bed, his eyes lowered to the ground, unable and unwilling to meet her gaze.

"I…asked you," she said shakily. "No, I _begged_ you not to say anything."

"Sweetheart…"

"Don't start that! You're not going to sugarcoat it."

"I'm not trying, Lia, I swear. I want my turn before you go ranting out and shove a nice fist in my face."

The idea was a nice one, but the emotion in his voice peaked her interest.

"Look, I was walking to McGonagall's office after Potions and I ran into your old pal Tremming. We had some words, and then we got into it about each other's mums, but when it turned to you I—I don't know what happened. It was like it wasn't even me who'd said it. I felt like I was under a spell."

"Merlin's beard," she said, disbelievingly, her eyes wide. "Is that honestly the best excuse you could come up with? You've had all morning to conjure something up and this is what you give me? I expected _at least_ a car chase and a torture chamber."

"Honestly, Aurelia, it's not an excuse. It's the truth."

"Well, what a big surprise: I don't believe you. You've cried wolf one too many times in your life—"

"Cried wolf?" he asked, a genuinely confused expression on his face.

Aurelia narrowed her eyes in thought. "I've been reading into too many of Lily's childhood favorites," she said, more to herself than to answer the question. She then realized what he was doing and said, "It's beside the point! Do you realize how deep I'm going to get in for this? If it gets around like this at Hogwarts, it's pretty damn certain to get around everywhere else."

"I don't see the big deal here, love. Are you embarrassed to be with me, is 'at it?"

"Hardly." But when she saw his proud smile, she stated harshly, "I take that back."

"Than what is it? Why does it have to be kept a secret? It's not like our relationship is anything less than notorious. Every teacher in this school has pried us apart at one time or another and we don't exactly keep to ourselves when we're snogging our brains out. Our relationship isn't a secret, so why cover our mouths now?"

Aurelia breathed in unsteadily. "I don't want people thinking I'm a slut."

"Don't throw me that line, Lia," said Sirius, narrow-eyed and persistent now. "No one in this school would ever make that mistake again. And since when do you care what people think of you?"

She slid down to the floor and stared hard at it.

"Then why, Aurelia?" Sirius asked callously, standing up from the bed.

"Because I'm a coward!" Tears streaked down her face, the collection of sobs still caught in her throat. She brought her head to her knees and spoke to the floor instead of having to look at her boyfriend. "I never wanted this much. I never thought I'd get this far with anyone, let alone _you_. I'm just some little girl who needs to be comforted. I'm pathetic! I've tried to suss out what's wrong with me but I haven't the slightest—"

"Clue?" Sirius said. Lia looked up to see his red face about to burst. "Aurelia Isobel Colton, are you bleeding blind? It's your rudding father that's done this to you! You're so far backed up into the corner you can't see it's him that's pushing you there! You want comfort because he doesn't love you like he used to—he doesn't love you at all!"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, so loudly those in the Gryffindor Common Room winced. Sirius took a step back, but said nothing. "You don't know the first thing about my father and I won't let you lecture me about him!"

"I know enough, and I think I speak for everyone _that loves you_ when I say you're a complete wanker to stay in the same house as that man."

Aurelia stood up and ran at him like a wild animal. She pummeled any part of him she could get to until he got a hold of her fists and forced her into a sitting position against the bedpost. "Lia, this isn't you. I love you."

"You don't know me!" she said, tears streaking her cheeks, but she was too weak to fight his grip anymore. "How can you possibly love me?"

"What'd you mean, I don't know you? _Woman_," he said in a resolute voice, commanding her attention. "I know the loving, flirty, friendly, outgoing, funny, smart, depressed, brave, spirited, annoyed, passionate, hell-of-a-kisser Aurelia who never shows what's really going on inside that wrapped up brain so that it doesn't bother anyone but herself. I know all those Aurelias, and I love them all, but I hate this one. It's denial—"

She squirmed in his grip, but didn't have the strength to get loose.

"You're always trying to break free of me, of your friends. Why can't you free yourself of _him_?"

"Stop it," she pleaded softly, her head sinking with the weight of her tears.

"No, I won't stop. I love you too much to let you go on living how you are. Why can't you see that you're worth more than this? You're the farthest thing from pathetic that I know of. You just have to realize where all your pain is coming from, and you won't see it."

"I love my father. He would never hurt me on purpose."

Sirius seemed to puff out smoke from his nostrils when he heard this. He let go of one of her wrists to lift up her shirt where her skin had turned purple against a ribcage. She tried to keep it down, but it didn't matter; they both knew what was there. He moved on to her shoulder where he pulled down her blouse to find another spot of splotched skin.

"These bruises say differently," he said venomously, staring her in the eye.

"It was an accident," she replied in defense.

Sirius released her and stepped away. "I won't ever get you to see this, will I? I won't get you away from him so that you can find out what it's like to live with a man who loves you—who would never hurt you, on purpose or not. You could come and stay with me. You wouldn't have to put up with it any more."

"I'm not putting up with—"

"Stop it, Lia!"

Aurelia saw the anger in his eyes and backed away, crawling across the covers. "You just don't understand. It's more complicated than what you're making it out to be."

"You know what? I don't understand. I have no idea how you can take these beatings and deny it FOR HIM."

Aurelia stood up and walked around the bed, her posture determined. "Maybe if you don't get me, and I don't get you…maybe this just won't work."

For an entire minute, Sirius just stared silently into her eyes. There was no emotion in them—not even the slight darkness they took to when she was angry. They were void. And upon this realization, he decided that there was nothing he could do for her.

"Maybe you're right," he said, in finalizing detachment. "This," he motioned between them, a sarcastic tone in his voice, "is the thing that doesn't work."

Sirius stepped around her, but she didn't look behind her as he walked out of the room. She stood there, head sinking into her hands, and let come the sobs.

- - - - -

Aurelia kept to herself for the rest of the day and Lily thought once or twice that she had literally sunk into her pillow and become a part of her bedspread. She had tried to reach out to her, but the only thing she could do to comfort her was to provide a shoulder to cry on. After three hours, Aurelia assured her she wouldn't be doing that anymore.

It wasn't until Lily had woken up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream that she realized Aurelia's bed was empty. For a moment she thought she really had sunk into the mattress, but she told herself not to worry.

That, of course, didn't work. For a split second she thought she'd forgotten a full moon, but that was impossible. There had been one only last week. What else would get Lia out of bed this late? Then it hit Lily like a slap to the face. She was bound to do something rash; Lia was emotionally unstable and it wouldn't take long for her to blow a gasket. Lily recalled the time her History of Magic grade had slipped a bit and she had yelled at Professor Binns until he gave her a detention for the coarsely-worded argument. She should have seen this coming.

Lily jumped out of bed and grabbed her Head Girl badge off the dresser in case she bumped into any teachers on her search. Once she stepped through the portrait hole, she remembered the beaten face of Sirius coming down the stairs from the boy's dormitories and James' snide remark, "You couldn't've handled that better, mate." A tear slid down her cheek as she replayed the fight in her mind. Remus had had to pry the boys off each other with the help of several other seventh years and take them both down to the hospital wing for a black eye and hard blows to the stomach. _They have always been and always will be complete gits_, she thought, but the banter didn't ease her worry.

She passed through the most obvious corridors, but to no avail. She was questioned by curious portraits, but never stopped to explain her late-night prowling. When she reached the stairs to the dungeons, she figured Lia had gone back to bed. She picked up her step because she'd heard some noises down by the Slytherin Common Room entrance, but stopped next to an odd-looking statue with his head on backwards. She had never seen that before, and thought it strange she would not have remembered it.

She spun around on her heels and walked back down to the dungeons. She looked around in the dark for awhile until her eyes adjusted. She heard a clash from the right and followed the noise; if there were some miscreants around she was going to have a good, long howl at them.

Lily lit her wand tip and walked around in the dark for a while until she walked right into a musty tapestry. She coughed furiously in the midst of the spurted dust and heard laughter from the other side. She flung the tapestry out of the way to reveal a giggling pair of girls, one in green, the other scarlet. The strong scent of alcohol was in the air and on their breath.

"Aurelia," she said, shocked and appalled at her friend's behavior. "What are you doing?"

"I'mmm," Lia said, drawing out the word as if she were trying to remember the rest of her answer, "living life the way I should."

"What, as a drunkard?"

Silvia burst out laughing, and grabbed at her stomach. "What a funny word—drunkard."

"Merlin," Lily said softly. "You're both completely plastered."

Aurelia looked at her cousin with a lazy stare, grinning. "I think _wasted_ is the word, akchally."

It took Lily half an hour (the entirety of which she was on pins and needles in case they were caught) for her to coerce them into returning to their dormitories. She had tried to get one of the Slytherin portraits to get a student from within the Common Room since Silvia had forgotten the password, but the ancestral green tie prefect would not budge—at least until the Colton persuasion skills kicked in. Silvia promised they would flash him the next time it happened. He practically ran out of his portrait. Lily felt queasy, because by that she knew this wasn't a first- or last-time thing.

She figured Silvia would be fine on her own, and guided Lia up to Gryffindor Tower, placing a nice Silencing Charm on her—she hadn't seemed to notice either way.

Once they got to the entrance, Lily said the password to the Fat Lady and waited impatiently, holding up Aurelia so her knees didn't buckle. The Fat Lady peeked an eye open, then shut it quickly and pretended she was asleep.

"I saw that!" Lily said, annoyed. Aurelia echoed her weakly, but Lily put a hand over her mouth, thinking it was stupid to have dropped her charm until they'd gotten inside.

The Lady opened her eyes and sighed. "I can't let you in," she said, looking as if she badly wanted nothing more than to sleep.

"What do you mean you can't?"

For a split second, the portrait almost looked giddy.

"Those dreadful boys promised they would stop shouting the Hogwart's song every time they saw me if I didn't allow anyone entrance tonight. I suppose the reward is the same for the portraits near the dormitories for distractions." Lily held up her Head Girl badge. "Deary, the prize is well worth the repercussions from Dumbledore."

Lily was about to take out her wand when Aurelia grabbed both sides of the frame and started—well, Lily didn't exactly know what she was trying to do. Sing, maybe? It sounded more like screaming to her, but whatever it was made the portrait open after only twelve second of it. It would be enough for anyone to wish they were def. Aurelia was still at it, apparently not realizing her tactic had been a success, so Lily closed a hand over her mouth and dragged her inside before Woldrum caught up with the noise.

"You really do need some lessons," said Lily, the awful sound still ringing in her ears.

Aurelia giggled and whispered, "I'm thirsty."

Lily sighed, knowing vaguely what she was about to walk in on. All four boys looked up from a poster-looking piece of paper on the Common Room table in surprise. Peter quickly grabbed the poster and murmured something under his breath, the others playing innocent.

"What are you doing out so late?" James asked, looking from Lily to Lia and back again.

Lily raised an eyebrow, giving her no-nonsense glare to Peter, who was near to melting into the carpet. James gave her an expectant look. "I might ask you the same question."

"Annual meeting," Sirius said defensively.

"Partying with the Slytherins," said Lily, completely sober. "We had punch."

Aurelia lost the grip on Lily's shoulder and fell to the floor with the loss of support.

James nodded at the fallen Gryffindor. "Looks like somebody spiked it."

"Help me," Lily said, hopelessly. The four boys grudgingly got up from the couches and gathered around the drunk and her overdue conscience. "Last time I tried to levitate her up the stairs, I bumped her head."

"I'd take her up, but seeing as I'd have to turn into Bambi—"

They all looked at Aurelia in surprise when she burst out laughing. "Oh, Jamesie, you're sooo _funny_," she said, wobbling in an attempt to get up, pulling on Remus' trousers and making his cheeks flush. James and Peter looked bemused while Sirius just looked angry.

Lily offered her a hand up, but she refused, pushing it away. Remus tried to help her by gripping her shoulders and she in turn, gripped his. "Sweeet Merlin, look at those armss. Rem, have you been taking enhancement draughts, 'cause those shrink elsewheres, you know?" Remus lit like a flaming red Christmas tree, and James and Peter laughed up a storm—even Sirius let loose a few chuckles. "But if you've really taken to workin' out, tell me when you doo next. I wanna watch—"

Lily had heard enough of Aurelia's alcohol-intake-overcoming-her-better-judgment. Between flashing portraits and flirting with her ex-boyfriend's best friends, Lia wasn't even Lia anymore.

"I would love it if you could stop coming on to my boyfriend and Remus, Lia."

He looked relieved, but Aurelia pouted. "I haven't even got to Peter yet!"

Lily quickly grabbed her hand and headed in the opposite direction, towards the dorms before she would say something she would really regret. Peter's face was absolutely priceless as the boys went back to sit by the fire. Aurelia began laughing as hard as James and Sirius, and as a result tripped over her own feet. This time when Lily tried to pull her up from the ground, she was fast asleep.

"Um…" Lily said concerned, looking back at the boys. Surprisingly, it was Sirius who walked over.

"Don't worry about it, Lil," he said, bending down and lifting the drunkard gently into his arms. "We've got her covered."

Lily nodded, a bit skeptical, then said, "Are you sure?"

"Lil, honestly, go to bed. Merlin knows you need your sleep."

She watched him carry Lia to the couch and set her down next to James. She smiled sadly and headed up the stairs.

- - - - -

Stumbling in through the open doorway, Silvia waved off the tired first year that had come to the entrance to let her in. "I'mmms fine. No worty." She giggled, laughing at a joke only known to her.

The first year's eye widened before he backed away slowly, having never seen anyone in that state on inebriation before, and certainly not Silvia Colton.

In what she thought was a careful manner, Silvia walked towards the set of stairs closest to her, which just happened to be the ones leading to the boy's dormitories. When she reached them, she found it decidedly difficult to navigate the stairs, and took to crawling them instead.

"Huh. Never knew we had patterned carpet. Isss very purty," she slurred as her finger traced the patterns over one of the stairs. Then she continued to climb, chanting, "Up, up, up!" as she went. Finally, having no more stairs to climb, she pouted and leaned against what she thought was a wall.

It turned out to be a slightly open dormitory door, which gave way against her weight, causing her to tumble backwards into the room.

Silvia let out a stream of uncontrollable giggles, rolling onto her side and then her stomach. She hummed a tuneless song as she drug herself over the cold floor. "Whish bed belongs to whish witch?" she mumbled as she looked over the haughty green-draped beds critically.

A hand slapped over her eyes and she spun around clumsily on her knees, arm waving frantically around her head. "I choose you." She pointed at a random bed, grinning at picking the correct one. She worked her way over to it.

Her hands loosely grasped the bedpost, hauling her body vertical very slowly. She half parted the drapes, half got tangled within them. Finally she crawled within and flopped triumphantly on her supposed bed.

And then she noticed another person in it.

"That'ss strange. Whoss at?" she poked the body. They grunted in reply and moved farther away from her. "You sound kinda manlyish Lizzie-loo. Oh! Iss cause, iss Evan not Lizzie. Okay, I gots this." Silvia laid down, wrapping her arms around the body next to her.

She smiled at her brilliance in making it up to Evan. She ran a hand through his silky hair in congratulations to herself. Except, it wasn't silky. It was greasy. "Ewww, your hairs iss gross. Like Snapeys."

Evan didn't feel quite right either. Sort of bony, and skinnier. Her brow furrowed. She ran a hand over his face. That wasn't Evan's nose. She wasn't in bed with Evan. She was in bed with Snape. And she couldn't remember how she got there.

So she screamed.

"Who the bloody hell is screaming?"

"Damn, I was sleeping!"

"Kindly stop killing my eardrums," a gravelly voice said close to her.

Silvia reacted instinctually; she pushed with all her might and sent the intruder from her bed, crashing to the floor. Her breathing was ragged, heart racing.

"What the hell? Who pushed me out of bed?" a voice raged—the voice that had been next to her.

Lights went on and drapes were drawn, revealing one Severus Snape tangled in his sheets on the floor next to his bed and one very confused and frightened Silvia Colton sitting in his bed, clutching his covers. The boys stared at her, shocked.

Snape rounded on Evan. "Get your girlfriend out of my bed!"

Evan was trying his best not to laugh. "Via, love, what're you doing here?" He asked walking closer to her.

When he was close enough, she launched at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. She trembled slightly. "I woke up and I was in Snapeys bed. I think he might a' drugged me, Evan."

"That scoundrel." Stifling a laugh, he put his mouth to her hair to contain his mirth. "It's all right. Let's just get you to bed, shall we?

- - - - -

James looked down at Aurelia's softly snoring form next to him. "How are you planning to get her up there?" he asked, looking at Sirius.

"I've no idea."

Three Marauders gazed at him, frowning.

"What do you mean you have no idea?" Remus asked with an edge to his voice.

Sirius sat down on the floor before the couch, pulling the map out of Peter's hand and placing it on the table. "I just love watching her sleep."

James sat up in his seat and gave him a good whack across the back of the head. "Are you mad, Padfoot?"

"Sirius, you need to let go."

"Well, obviously she hasn't if she's seen a need to get drunk over it, has she?" Sirius' face was set and he was eyeing Aurelia out of the corner of it.

"That's not the point. You need to let go, even if she hasn't."

"Why does she get to gripe when she's the one who broke it off in the first place?"

"A woman's prerogative."

"She said 'maybe'," he said firmly. "She said 'maybe' we shouldn't see each other anymore. That has to mean something."

"No, it doesn't."

"And why not?" he shouted. Remus, James and Peter all held up their hands and made shushing noises, so Sirius lowered his voice and whispered fiercely, "Why not?"

"Women change their minds all the time, but men are set on what they say. Since you said you should break it off, it's done. The only way that's going to change is if Aurelia wants it to."

"What do you know about it, Prongs?" Sirius replied viciously.

"A hell of a lot more than you, apparently."

"Hey. _Hey!"_ Remus said authoritatively, looking from James to Sirius. "You guys want to end up in the hospital wing again, that's fine, but don't wake up Lia. She's been through enough tonight. She doesn't need to see you two get into it again."

It took Sirius a minute to settle himself down, and then he turned around to look at Lia. James snatched his hand away before he got the chance to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"Get a hold of yourself, Sirius," he said, ashamed. "You're better than this."

Remus said he was tired and suggested they continue the meeting tomorrow. Sirius earned a glare from James when he said he would be up in a minute. He heard two pairs of footsteps trailing up the stairs to the boy's dormitories and looked behind him at Remus, who was gathering his Potion's textbook and the map.

"I don't know if I can," Sirius said quietly. "I think I fell for her."

Remus stopped mid-movement, then stood up with his books in one arm. "I wouldn't know about that. But, Seer, you've got plenty of prospects. If you pretend not to care long enough, maybe one day you won't."

"But I'm in love, Rem. Shouldn't I be fighting for her?"

Remus' expression turned to one of sympathy. "Not if she doesn't want you to."

Once he was up the stairs, Sirius sat down next to Aurelia's sleeping head, and he looked around before brushing the hair out of her face. He stared at the fire for several minutes, thoughts rushing through his mind at rapid rates. He decided he would put them off until morning because they were beginning to give him a headache. He pulled out his wand and produced a soft blanket, which he draped over Aurelia gently.

He made to get up from the couch when something grabbed his wrist. He looked down and saw that Aurelia's hand was wrapped around it. She was looking right at him with pleading eyes, and every one of the conflicts in his mind came to a shuddering halt as she whispered, "Stay with me."

Sirius looked from her to the stairs, and slowly he settled back into the couch, placing his feet on the table. Aurelia crawled forward to lay her head in his lap. He felt an odd sense of loss that he hadn't realized he'd been feeling. Even though he was close to her…in that moment, he felt farther away from her than he'd ever been before.

- - - - -

Her eyes were red and she hadn't thought to put make-up on this morning. What was the use? She would have looked just as crappy with it on. Her cheek was stuck to her Transfiguration notes on her desk. She didn't even lift up her head to smart off to McGonagall, she just mumbled under her breath. Getting detention didn't even faze her. She was actually partially glad for it—something to take her mind off…things.

Lily was frowning from the seat next to her, a pitying look in her eye. Stupid pity. She wished it had never existed. Why was she always making people feel sorry for her? It annoyed the hell out of her. People should just mind their own business. She wondered briefly if that would make her happy, no one caring. She decided probably not, and mentally slapped herself for the contradiction.

Aurelia hadn't broken up with him more than twenty-four hours ago and Sirius was already getting friendly with some of his fan girls. She'd spotted him leaving the Great Hall with two of them this morning, squeezing their sides to make them giggle. It was enough to make a person sick. Or enough to make Aurelia sick, at least. It didn't help that she was hung over. Lily said she'd done some pretty embarrassing things last night, but she didn't want to know. It was all a giant blur, except for her promise to flash a Slytherin portrait for some reason.

She woke up this morning on the Common Room couch smelling like sherry, not knowing how she'd gotten there. Silvia was a partial cause of her drunkenness, that was certain. She found herself with a desperate need to find that girl.

"Miss Colton, where do you think you're going?"

McGonagall's piercing voice stung her ears. Lily wouldn't let her near a cauldron that morning, so she couldn't make herself some soothing hangover potion. The day was not a good one. Aurelia turned around and squinted one eyelid, biting her lip in thought.

"I was just going to go to the bathroom," she said, belatedly adding, "Professor."

"Generally when people leave my class, they ask."

"I thought you'd rather me throw up in a lavatory than on your classroom floor."

McGonagall rushed her out the door as several students laughed at her shocked expression. Aurelia grinned inwardly. That was much too easy. Of course she had left her rucksack and books in class, but at least she was out.

She picked up a crumpled piece of paper from the floor and pulled out her wand from her robes. She scribbled on it as if the wand were a quill and enchanted it to fold itself into a paper airplane. It flew down the hallway and she watched it until it reached the turn.

It was only ten minutes of waiting in the bathroom before Silvia arrived, smiling fondly at her cousin.

"Bloody hell, you look terrible, dear heart," she said blatantly, sifting through her rucksack and throwing a yellow bottle at her. Aurelia caught it, but it fell through her hands an instant later.

"I love you," she said after she took a swig of the Hangover Draught. She sat back against the bathroom stall and started banging her head against it, a few tears running down the sides of her face.

"Woah, woah," Silvia said, kneeling next to her and holding her head steady. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing," she said groggily, shutting her eyes.

"Oh, right then. I'll just let you smash your head in. What's wrong?"

Aurelia sniffed, wiping the wetness from her eyes. "Sirius is dating already."

She saw Silvia roll her eyes exaggeratedly. "He's a bastard, Lia. What did you expect?"

"I thought," she said, then lowered her voice. "I thought maybe I actually meant something to him. I didn't think he'd just go off and snog one of his fan gits. And I didn't think he'd do it so soon."

"Well, he did. Because he's a moron and can't see what he's lost."

"Did I tell you we had sex?"

"It's sort of been…around," Silvia said, a note of apology in her tone. "How was it?"

"Horrible. He's really bad. And it's small."

Silvia looked bemused. "Really?"

Aurelia banged her head again. "No, I'm just trying to make myself feel better."

A hand came between her head and the stall. "I can spread it around if you want."

Aurelia shook her head slowly. "No one would believe it."

"Oh, I have my ways."

Aurelia gave a small snigger, but regained her depression rapidly.

"Look, I'll talk to him, okay?"

"What will that do?"

"Lia…honestly. It's me. I'll just tell him to bugger the hell off. What you need right now is friends. No more of this relationship crap. It just ends badly for you. In fact, you can borrow Evan if you want a snog, but other than that, you little slut…"

Aurelia smiled and punched Silvia in the shoulder. "Like I'd ever be so desperate as to go for Rosier, Via."

"I don't get you," said Silvia, annoyed. "Evan's got to be the best damn kisser this side of the island. You've been with Black too long. He's clouded your judgment on attractiveness."

"If you start talking about him like this, I'm just gonna go hang out with Lily more."

"Maybe you should. Minus the Gryffindor Gits, though. It'd be good for you to talk to someone other than me. Your problems are getting to weigh down my shoulders a bit."

"You're such a little bitch," said Aurelia with a small smirk.

"Skank."

"Egomaniac."

"Know-it-all."

"Know-nothing."

"Wanker."

"Nutter."

They smiled at each other and Silvia tackled her with a bear hug. They stayed in the lavatories until the period ended and they stepped into the crowd of students together. The stares got annoying, but Aurelia knew she'd have to get used to it. For now, though, she planned to ignore it all and focus on how to get her rucksack out of McGonagall's classroom without her noticing.

- - - - -

It was risky business trying to get up to the boy's dorms without being seen, but Aurelia had to try. James and Sirius were nearly joined at the hip lately, and it made trying to get James alone quite a difficult task. They weren't this conjoined before Sirius and her had dated, so she didn't know what the deal was now. It didn't concern her anymore, she reminded herself. Nothing he did concerned her.

She didn't bother knocking before sliding into the room, sidling the wall. James was too busy attempting to put a shirt on to notice her entrance, which was not-so-good, since he would be surprised when he got his shirt over his head.

Despite her pleading face and shushing noises, James nearly shouted his shock at her presence.

"Heard of knocking, Lia? It gives a bloke a chance to put some clothes on."

"Oh please," Lia said, waving it off. "Like I haven't seen your chest before."

"I've got a nice chest, though," he replied haughtily. "Wouldn't want you to get all hot over something you can't have."

She supplied a blank stare, void of amusement. "You are so incredibly full of yourself, Potter."

"I know," he said, smirking.

"Anyways, I didn't sneak up here to discuss your ego," she started, hesitating. "I'm wondering…what happens next."

James thought for a moment, but then proceeded with sarcasm, probably because he didn't really know how we wanted to answer her. "I'm not the person to ask. Maybe you shouldn't've quit Divination after all."

"James."

"I don't know, Lia," he said, his voice turning somber. "You're not making sense. Evans makes more sense to me than you right now. I don't understand your logic, and I really gotta say I'm siding with Sirius on this one. Yes, he handled it entirely wrong, but the bloke's got a point. And I'm not just siding with him because we've been friends longer. I don't think he explained what he thought to you the right way, but if Sirius and you really are over…I dunno. I can't make any promises."

Lia stared at him and when she finally realized there was uncomfortable silence, her eyes shifted to the ceiling and then to the floor, anywhere but his face. Tears were starting to form, but she wouldn't let them fall.

"He's my best mate, Lia."

"Yeah," she said, her eyes then completed their aimless wandering and rested on the ground. "That he is."

James gave a half-smile and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her neck in his right hand. At first she was shocked by this gesture—of all the people to do something like that, James would have been the last—but then she wrapped her arms around him and rested her hands on his shoulders and her head on his shirt.

"You think they ever clean the john's in this—"

Aurelia and James broke apart as the voice trailed into the room. They both turned to see Sirius and Peter stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the two of them.

"Were you just—?" Sirius half-asked, looking from Lia to James and back. Three inches behind him, Peter was doing the same, though shifting his weight nervously as he did so.

She'd done nothing wrong, but again she felt the tears coming. Why were they pestering her now? She figured it was just all the emotion she was feeling lately. She wondered why, in all the world of magic, there was no charm or potion that could control hormones. It should've been a first priority.

It was a completely platonic gesture: a symbol of friendship. Friends hugged. It was innocent, and if Sirius didn't understand it, that was his problem.

"We were just talking," she began, about to make her way out of the room.

"Right," Sirius said, appearing unconcerned. She thought she may have been off the hook until he said, "Talking…in our dorm...alone."

"Oh, c'mon, Padfoot, don't start with that," James said, irritated.

"Start what?" he replied, as casual as before. "I'm just describing the situation, and how ironic it is."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lia asked.

Sirius replied with a glare.

"You know what? What if me and James did have a thing?"

"Which we_ don't_," James quickly clarified.

"What do you care? You don't look like you're having too much trouble easing back into dating. Is there a rule where the girl has to wait a week?"

"I never said I cared," Sirius explained plainly, a definite drawl in his tone.

Aurelia was taken aback. He'd always been an overprotective boyfriend, and she wasn't used to him not caring. She shook it off and bit back, "Good."

"Is that all? We've gotta change for class," he said, his voice dripping with apathy.

She forced a smile, then moved towards the door. Before she passed Sirius and Peter, she turned around and said, "I can see why you want to stay his friend, James."

If she had let them, tears would have started to fall the moment she was out of their sight.

Sirius was like a disease, and he was killing her from the inside out. It was a good thing she had just been assured some isolation.

- - - - -

"And please remember what I have said ladies. These continuous pranks are to be stopped immediately as they are only discourage House unity further. Am I understood?" Dumbledore questioned, his head resting on steepled hands as his eyes looked over half-moon spectacles.

"Yes, Professor," four girls chorused, sitting in the plush chairs before the headmaster's desk.

"Good. You're free to go."

The girls stood up the leave, turning towards their respective Housemates with looks of relief and irritation.

"Oh, Miss Colton," Dumbledore started, watching the auburn-haired girl turn around. A twinkle rested in his eye. "The other Miss Colton, if you wouldn't mind."

"Yes, Headmaster?" Silvia asked, turning on her heel, close enough to reach the door if only she outstretched her hand.

"Would you kindly stay for a moment? There is something I wish to discuss with you."

"Of course, Professor."

The three other girls left with varied looks of confusion on their faces as they slipped through the solid wooden doors. Silvia went to sit in the solitary chair that rested before the detailed wooden desk. She arranged her skirt around her, waiting for the Headmaster to start.

He didn't do anything at first, simply watching as she settled her clothing. He took a deep breath before leaning backwards in his chair, fixing her with an even gaze. "Have you considered what career you'll take after you graduate, Miss Colton?"

"Professor Slughorn and I think I could do quite well in the Ministry," Silvia replied evenly, unsettled by the personable approach of her Headmaster. She had never liked being this close in contact with him.

"That's admirable," Dumbledore said, nodding politely. "Has your cousin decided on something yet?"

Raising an internal eyebrow, she decided to answer regardless. "I believe she wants to go into business, Professor."

"Ah, that's good. Now, Miss Colton, I want to ask you something, and I hope you'll respond accordingly." Silvia nodded slowly which seemed to satisfy Dumbledore. "Excellent. I'm sure you're aware of the type of friends your cousin keeps, but do you know the kind of influence you hold over her?"

"I'm afraid I don't know the kind of influence you're talking about, Professor," Silvia kept her face neutrally blank, revealing nothing. Her eyes though, sparked slightly with anger.

His fingers laced together, settled before him on his desk. "I believe you do. You're aware of how highly she regards your advice and just how much she will do to hold your affections. I've been attentive to the recent argument between the two of you, and how it has affected you both. A person should not have to be so highly dependent on one other soul in their life, Miss Colton."

"Are you telling me to stay away from my cousin, Professor?" Silvia asked confused, while inside she seethed at the audacity of the man before her. Nothing would keep her apart from her cousin, certainly not some willowy old man.

"No, I am simply informing you that your cousin is a unique individual and should be allowed to find her talents without outside influences. If you truly wish her to make something of her life, you might consider allowing her to figure these things out on her own," Dumbledore stated simply, his expression never changing.

"I think Aurelia is capable of thinking for herself."

"But would you like her to start thinking as you do?"

Silence reigned between them for several moments before a contemplative look crossed Silvia's face. "I'll consider what you've said, Professor."

"That's all I ask. You're free to go." He motioned with his hand, watching her walk gracefully from the room without a hint of emotion in her body language. Only when she had left the room did Dumbledore slump in his chair and run a hand over his eyes.

It was a bad day when he had to ward one student from another, especially family.

But Aurelia Colton was unique, and he knew that she would fall easily to her cousins' influence without some interference to come between them.

- - - - -

In the dark of the night, three figures stood waiting. Their long garments hide eccentric clothing in the otherwise oblivious neighborhood. Not that it mattered; the occupants of that neighborhood were none the wiser to their presence as they slept peacefully.

A fourth figure walked out of the light foliage that dusted the surroundings. The cluster of white-washed houses shone against the harsh light of the filling moon. The solitary figure stopped as they reached the group, lowering the hood of their cloak as they did.

Her navy hair shone in the moonlight.

"Silvia, I thought you weren't coming," a whimsical voice pronounced as she lowered her head to display hair that blended into the darkness that was around her. Bellatrix smiled at her old friend.

The other two figures removed their hoods as well, revealing the sturdy frame of her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, and another unknown dark-haired male. His eyes glowed a curious crimson from beneath dark lashes.

"I was held up by that simpering fool they claim is the Headmaster," Silvia replied as she swept a stray lock of navy hair from her shoulder. Her eyes swept over the new presence before settling back on that of her two friends.

"Is there any particular reason you wanted to meet here, Via," Rodolphus asked, surveying the typical Muggle neighborhood around them with obvious distaste.

Silvia grinned sharply. "Oh, yes. You said your _friend_ valued actions more than words. I thought you might want to run along on a little errand of mine and report back whether it was well enough or not." She replied, walking swiftly towards one of the houses that lined the street.

Today, one Muggle would rue the day his fingers ever touched one of those guns and took one of her beloved family members. She'd make sure, because she intended to kill his family right in front of him, and then kill him.

Her grin widened in anticipation.

It would be a good night.


End file.
